Beyond The Pale – ‘Monument in Time’

I’m looking for grit and angst right now. There’s no real reason as to why other than I am just feeling angst, a little restless, and ready to get in an insane pit. My show of choice for tonight should have all three of those things, but that’s still a couple of hours away, so I need something to satisfy this hunger now. Thankfully for me, I have Beyond The Pale’s ‘Monument in Time’ album sitting on my desk waiting to review, and I have a feeling, solely based on the album art and the typeface of the band name, that this will do the trick.

As soon as “Liberation for the Damned” started, I knew I had picked the right album. This group hails from The Netherlands, and, as we all know, the best extreme metal comes from over on that side of the globe, with this band being no exception. This opening track is abrasive and intense but also has a sense of clarity to it that I feel like many extreme bands only ever dream of pulling off. At just under six minutes long, this track alone is a journey, and it’s dramatic. There are breaks, rises, and falls, moments of blistering intensity quickly followed up by a feeling of soothing aloe taking over your body before the band plunges you back into their dark and sinister world. If I’m getting all of this from just the opening track, I honestly can not wait to see what the rest of the album brings.

“The Age of the Pariah” continues with Beyond the Pale’s blistering sound. I love how the guitars seem to cut through this song like a razor while not taking anything away from the powerful vocals that drive this song forward. “The Age of the Pariah” seems to have a bit more of an approachable composition to it with your standard bridge and chorus folly, but the intricacies throughout this entire song keep it from falling into the zone of being “just another angry song.” I love how there are nods to the metal of years gone by with power chords galore, yet this song remains fresh feeling throughout its entirety.

If you know me, you know I love a good pirate metal band and song (and yes, pirate metal is a thing). Although I wouldn’t necessarily put Beyond the Pale’s “Walk the Plank” into the pirate metal category, it has tendencies and seems to change everything I thought I knew about this band’s sound. This song is still intense and insane, but there’s something a bit more intentional about it. With every note that passes in this song, you can hear and feel a stunning amount of meticulous planning. Beyond The Pale’s sound definitely won’t be for everyone, but I think the attention to detail in this song will have the most metal-hating listeners sitting on the edge of their seats.

“Storm en drift” is the first song not sung in English; typically, that wouldn’t be for me. I love lyrics and love to follow along as a song plays, so when I can’t understand what a band is saying, I often get discouraged and frustrated. This is not the case when it comes to this song. Although I may not have a clue what this song is about, I can tell you that the emotion I felt throughout this song did all of the talking I needed. The vocals change tones throughout this song, telling me that this story is dramatic and epic, just like the songs prior. The fact that I couldn’t just hone in on the lyrics means that this song gave me time to really focus on the instrumentation, and it was eye-opening. Although I know this band is solid, it wasn’t until this song that I realized how tightly the group works together.

Storming drums bring you to attention as “Facts and Figures” keeps up. I feel like the guitar pattern in this song is super close to that in “Storm en Drift,” giving this song the feeling of almost being a continuance of that fourth track, but that could be me just not spending enough time in the metal world lately. Regardless, this song will hook you with the drum opening alone and then drag you down to Beyond The Pale’s version of bliss in such a perfect way. I’m not going to give away all of the lyrics to this song because, as you know, that’s not my style, but I love the political outcry that this song seems to showcase. It’s just the cherry on top of yet another flawless song from this group.

Ending this brutal release is “Payback Is a Bitch” and, as the title may suggest, this song is savage in all of the right ways. Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel with their last song, Beyond The Pale takes advantage of the final few minutes of this album by continuing to drown you in their bloodthirsty world. The ferocious and ruthless power of their sound will stick with you long after this final song finishes and may even make you want to go back and start this journey all over again.

I know that extreme metal isn’t for everyone and I respect that but, even if it’s not your thing, I highly suggest you give at least one of these songs a moment of your time. Beyond The Pale is a super strong band that is so good at what they do. On top of that, vocalist Janneke de Rooy is a female and this scene and genre needs more powerful females like her. Seriously, what an epic listen.