Beyond The Shore - Ghostwatcher

Kinda hard to believe that these guys are only in their early 20s, but they know how to rock some metal.I love finding out about new bands comprised of young kids who actually make decent music beyond the usual stuff out there that's little more than a trumped up garage band. This is the age of YouTube, people. Like it or not, if you're in a "metal" band there's really no excuse not to be tight and heavy, even of you are in your teens. And that's what you get with Beyond The Shore and their first full-length album, Ghostwatcher.

Formed while the Kentucky metalcore quintet was still in high school, Beyond The Shore has crafted a cogent musical identity enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with other popular metal acts like Veil of Maya and Born of Osiris. There's not a lot of area to cover in terms of their sound, it's pretty straightforward as far as the genre goes, but the standout performances here are clearly Andrew Loucks' go for broke vocals and Jonathan Pugh's jackhammer double bass drumwork. This is some pretty tight shit here, setting the bar pretty high for any youngbloods that try to come on the scene from this point forward.

Now I'll be honest, like a lot of metalcore, the songs all kind of run together for me. But there's no denying the impressive degree of talent these guys are bringing to the table, and it's hard to imagine they won't be putting out better and better music as time goes on. I can only imagine what they'll be making when they reach their thirties.

The Bottom Line: In the YouTube age the expectations for a group of guys in their early twenties with a metalcore band are high, but Beyond The Shore meet and exceed them ably. Nice work, guys.

- Genghis is more than a little bit humbled realizing he's twice these guys' age... Ugh!