Beyond Mortal Dreams may sound like a gay gothic metal band, but in reality they are the crème de la crème of what Australia has to offer death metal-wise. They've been around since the early 90's as "Suffering" but changed their name to Beyond Mortal Dreams in '95 only to go on a break from '99 to '03 before finally releasing a demo in 2004. Dreaming Death is only the fourth release from the band as Beyond Mortal Dreams.
Variations in speed, heaviness and intensity are what keep things interesting on the Dreaming Death EP. They have the filthily heavy, gut-churning guitar sound and base for their riffs as Mitochondrion, Portal and Antediluvian, and yet they have a sound that is entirely their own. Their compositions aren't completely straight forward, but at the same time they don't sound that technical or progressive, and the drums and guitars work in perfect unison to create that intense and imposing atmosphere that many Australian death bands are known for.
Beyond Mortal Dreams are neither high, mid or low tempo death metal. Part of the destructive beauty of Dreaming Death is the fact that the band play whatever the hell they damn well please as long as it fits in the song in question. The drums form a fearsom foundation for the veritable meat-grinder that is the guitar tracks, which in turn are spiced up with the gurgling roars of the lead singer.
Often this type of metal has a severe lack of hooks which makes the music bland in the long run, but stuff like the pumping guitars and drums in the second half of The Filth of Their God and the sinister guitar solo in Dreaming Death are more than enough to make this EP memorable.
Dreaming Death is a phenomenal EP and a carnal show of ferocity and aggression, but with the EP being only 4 tracks long the otherwise well-executed Beherit cover song feels a bit unnecessary. The track in question, Beast of Damnation, does fit their overall theme well and has been adapted nicely to Beyond Mortal Dreams' style, but... I'm grasping at straws really, this EP is awesome. 9/10 guitars.
Tracklist:
1. Feast of Carrion
2. The Filth of Their God
3. Dreaming Death
4. Beast of Damnation (Beherit Cover)
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Lavadome Productions official website
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