BEYOND INFINITY is a newer band out of Austria making their full length debut with "Welcome To Infinity". It's a very strong follow up to their debut EP "Fragments", released in 2014, marking a definite step forward in what I would regard as a unique, modern, and fresh sound. Metal Archives pegs them as metalcore/melodic power/death metal. I personally would say they're more of a melodic death metal, with thrash and hardcore influences, and metalcore breakdowns. And most people would say all of us are losers anyways, so let's call it a wash.

The sound BEYOND INFINITY has cultivated for this release is beautiful and brilliant. It combines so many elements of old and new in such an amazing way, resulting in a sound that is fresh while also sounding classic. They weave melody in throughout furiously pulsating and chugging guitar flawlessly, perfectly balancing the use of clean and harsh vocals, with cleans that blend into the metal sound perfectly and don't work against it. On their breakdowns, and there are many, they reach fantastic heights. The music was already brilliant enough without the breakdowns, but they threw those in there too because they care about and love us so much, and it really pushes the album over the top. And each one is different and unique in some way, creative, and always heavy and chunky.

There are so many influences and different things they do, pulling in so many styles, and cutting across such a wide range of metal throughout the course of this album it's almost hard to talk about it all. I hear sounds that remind me of bands like METALLICA, HATEBREED, AUGUST BURNS RED, AMORPHIS, AMON AMARTH but if like they were a good band, INSOMNIUM, whatever pirate metal bands are "big" nowadays, and honestly so much more. But they blend everything together so well and lay it out cohesively through the 10-song track list, you never feel like you're being yanked from one genre to the next. It flows together flawlessly. 10 songs is the perfect length for this album. It's just long enough to make an epic impact, but it doesn't overstay its welcome. And the order of the songs is perfectly done, which is so huge for cohesiveness.

"Into Infinity" opens the album as a total instrumental besides some background voices early on, but it's an epic one that succeeds in every way. Despite being over 3 minutes, which in many cases would be terrible for an instrumental opening track, this one rips, leading into the carnage that follows. For my money ,"Lost In Paradise", "When Our World Collides", "Beyond Infinty - Beyond The Shadows", and "Embrace The Fire" all had the best breakdowns, and also had the strongest melodeath/INSOMNIUM type vibes. "When Our World Collides" got a bit more of those HATEBREED/METALLICA vibes, and lead single "Embrace The Fire" has a lot of strong AUGUST BURNS RED vibes in the melodies and lead guitar work, but all still generally melodeath esque. Lots of fast paced pulsating guitars, lots of chunk.

Then in the back half of the album are a lot more of the melodic and epic type songs, giving me more AMORPHIS type feelings, and lots of pirate type metal, lots of more upbeat crusader stuff with incredibly epic melodic lines driving them. "Tyrant's Tale" and "Renascense" bring the pirate type feel with a lot of epic swashbuckling moments, those songs are bombastic and really take the album to a cool and different new level after the melodeath and breakdown heavy opening half. It's fresh and blends together perfectly, giving the album strong ebb and flow. "Silver Starlight" anchors the middle of the album as one of the most melodic and ballad-esque songs, but still pulsating, chugging, and plenty chunky. Melodically, vocally, thematically, and even with the guitar work it reminds me of AMORPHIS, particularly a song of theirs called "Silent Waters" which is one of my favorites works of there's an all time favorite song. "Silver Starlight" is definitely a highlight, but then again, this is an album entirely full of highlights.

Overall, "Welcome To Infinity" is a tour-de-force debut from a young band that's firmly developed a fresh but also classic sound, and is ready to take it to the next level. This is a group I strongly hope blows up, I would love to hear some of this shit live. The massive scope of metal they manage to cover succeeds in every way, and it all comes perfectly together to form an absolutely brilliant debut that is thrilling from start to finish. I would give it an 11/10 if I could.