BEYOND THE SHADOWS [BOOK US IN JUNE!]

Hailing from Markham, ON, Beyond the Shadows have been bringing their passionate brand of metalcore to stages across their home province since mid-February 2008. Unlike most of their peers in the current glut of young acts flooding every dingy bar and decrepit Legion Hall in Southern Ontario, BTS stand out from their peers in several subtle, but very defining ways.
Conventional wisdom dictates that in most situations, a young age carries the caveat of an equally juvenile mindset. With an average age of 18 between them, BTS are the exception to the rule that proves the rule.
Beyond the Shadows blend old-school Youth Crew-style ethics and beliefs with the typically (INSERT) of metalcore.
Faced with a scene full of peers that approach hardcore music with a ham-fisted, one-dimensional style trying to be heavier than the band who came along five minutes before them, Beyond the Shadows are doing their level-best to bring a much-needed and refreshing sense of musicality back to metalcore. “I’m getting pretty tired of the same old deathcore garbage,” Anderson says with a chuckle.
Rest assured, BTS are as skull-crushingly heavy as any one of their peers, packing enough lightning-quick double-kick blasts and mosh-inducing breakdowns to hold their own against any other act in the scene. However, unlike many of the bands trying to “out-heavy” the act whose sweat is still being wiped off the same stage they walk on, BTS showcase a distinct sense of musicality; interlacing beautifully dancing guitar harmonies within their sonic onslaught, demonstrating not only a keen sense of songwriting beyond their collectively young years, and provides the listener with an oft-neglected chance to breathe.
From Day One, the boys have been on the fast track, taking the stage for their maiden performance a mere two weeks after formation. However, despite the alacrity of both their songwriting and gigging, the quality of their music hasn’t suffered in the slightest. Despite his age, Anderson’s iron-throated vocals are worthy of a frontman half-again his senior. Beyond the Shadows’ lyrical content, however; is markedly different from that of many of their peers in one distinct way: Their words share not only an ethical headspace with much of the 90’s New York Youth Crew/Posi-core movement, but a forward-thinking self-awareness not often associated with the typical metalcore soundscape, with Anderson doing his best to look past his anger in hopes of finding a source of collective hope for not only himself, but for the human race as a whole. “I want people to be impacted positively [by our music]”, says Anderson… “We…all of us need to understand that we’re all in this together and I’m not screaming because it’s trendy, I’m screaming these words because desperate times call for desperate measures, and we need answers…I’m not screaming out of anger, It’s passion. The changes we need to make in our world can only be made out of love of [one] another. Hatred got us into this mess.”
BTS are doing their best to play as many stages as possible this winter season, and have no intention of stopping. “We wanna take this band to the moon and back,” says Small with a determined smile. “We’re in this for the long haul and [we will] take this as far as we can.” Summing up the way every young musician feels in the most accurate way possible he adds: “All I want to do with my life is tour until my bones are dust.”