Beyond Fear
Beyond Fear

Beyound Fear is the project led by Tim 'Ripper' Owens, for those not familiar with him, the former singer of Judas Priest who was enlisted during the absence of the 'Metal God' Rob Halford, and the current singer of Iced Earth. Besides him in the project, we also find the bassist Dennis Hayes - ex Seven Witches -, Dwane Biharry on rhythm guitar, Eric Elkins on percussion, and John Comprix on rhythm and lead guitar.

Having introduced them, let's move on to the opener 'Scream machine', which immediately reveals the band's vocation: rhythm guitar and drums begin to tighten the pace in thrash style, while 'the Ripper' immediately showcases his exquisite technique by delivering the first verses in a screeching and extremely high falsetto that is an angry variation of the one used by Halford. The songwriting here is raw and menacing, at least as much as the instruments; "and...you will die", the second track, perpetuates the angry thrash matrix, here guitar, bass, and percussion are in unison tightening the rhythm, while 'the Ripper' persists in his multi-octave scream, alternating a powerful and hoarse tone, close to Phil Anselmo of Pantera, but lighter; 'Save me', the third track, doesn't stray from the path, here the Ripper starts more calm to give vent to all his vocal aspiration in the chorus that repeats the track's title, accompanied by well-melodically set verses that culminate in extremely high-pitched vowels.

'The human race' reopens the dance with call and response melodies, alternating clean voice with the high register; 'Coming at you' reconnects to the second track, the rhymes maintain the call and response style refining it a bit while the Ripper starts to lower the register. Next is the slowest piece, the ballad 'Dreams come true', acoustic and electric guitar caress the air like gentle rain, the melody is sweet and the Ripper has an absorbed and sad voice, as he sings of childhood memories with the regret of old times, or better times, when we had the company of someone who is now missing.

'Telling lies' is an angry outburst towards someone detestable, towards hypocrisy and indifference; the next track follows this sense; the concluding tracks 'My last words' 'Your time has come' and 'The faith' round out the form of the album, which can be defined here as faithful to the style of "Jugulator" and "Demolition" by Priest, where the microphone was held by The Ripper; always Heavy, with melodic passages here and there, in which the good Comprix was inserted in time.

In conclusion, I would say that the album's distinctive touch is given by the much-discussed singer, who probably had free rein to express himself in this setting.