The Beyond formed way back in 1988 in England and the progressive rock outfit took their cues from bands like Yes and Rush, added some of their own style, and created a complex and unique sound. I had never heard these guys before so I picked up their 1991 release Crawl. I need to point out here that I am reviewing the U.S. release of this album, which has a somewhat different tracklisting than the UK version, and a couple of the original songs have even been replaced by B-sides. I'm not sure why this happened, but I haven't been able to compare it to the UK version yet. For the most part this album is fast and technical, rarely letting you catch your breath. It has some great, surprising moments that any music fan should be able to enjoy, though it can be difficult to listen to at times because of the amount of complexity.

The first track Sacred Garden starts out with some quick bass work that leads into some eclectic guitar work and then the vocals of John Whitby. His voice isn't bad, he reminds me of Karnivool frontman Ian Kelly. The music in this first song is pretty varied, but always comes back to the opening guitar riff. There is definitely some underlying melody, but it is somewhat choppy and difficult to follow at times. A very prevalent bassline again starts the next track, Great Indifference. I like listening to Whitby's voice but the instruments are so eclectic that it makes it difficult to follow what is going on musically in the song. It's pretty intense. There is a lot of speed and technicality but not a lot of melody or groove. Some of the sounds are also difficult to identify, I can’t tell if they are synthesized or some kind of weird guitar distortion. The intro to Everybody Wins somewhat reminds me of the intro to Living Colour's Cult Of Personality. I also like the samples from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory used in this track. The bass and guitar work is quite varied again, but I think this song seems to have more of a point than the first two. The feeling here seems to be more angry as well. The drums are also very prevalent on this track, the drumming style often reminds me of Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy. Nail is very guitar-driven, the riffs overpower everything else, though you can still notice the drums. One Step Too Far, one of the singles from the album, begins with some quick riffs and then the drums and bass come in. When the vocals come in they get sort of drowned out by the guitar and drums, except in the chorus, which is quick and catchy. The song continues with even more quick drum and guitar work that is technical as well as beautiful in its complexity. The Eve Of My Release is a very fast, heavy, guitar driven song that really caught my attention with some great energy. Whitby's clean voice works well with the guitars here, though I cringe when I hear him attempt to use a rougher vocal style, fortunately this happens rarely. This is a very catchy song and a memorable track that quickly became one of my favorites with guitarist Andy Gatford showing off some really great talent here, as he does throughout the entire album. Sick is another softer song that mainly uses the drums and vocals to create a somewhat lonely atmosphere. This is one area where I don't think Whitby's voice works so well, though it does help create a creepy atmosphere. However the electric guitar riffs soon crash in, along with plenty of cymbals from drummer Neil Cooper. This is a great change from the desolate atmosphere the song began with, and it continues until the song fades out with the same eerie singing.

This album moves quickly and after the first listen it left me wondering what the hell just happened. If you really want to enjoy this album I would suggest doing what I did and listening to each song carefully. This is definitely not background music. It's technical, it's complex, and that can unfortunately sometimes make it a chore to pay attention to. However there are those beautiful moments when the complex atmosphere just envelopes you and they make this album worth listening to. Overall this is an interesting and relatively unknown/forgotten album.