BEYOND TWILIGHT

Progressive Metal • Denmark
MetalMusicArchives.com — the ultimate metal music online community, from the creators of progarchives.com
BEYOND TWILIGHT picture
Beyond Twilight began life as Twilight, releasing one studio album under the name, Eye for an Eye, in 1994. The band is led by keyboardist Finn Zierler who remains the only constant member over the Twilight/Beyond Twilight career.

Beyond Twilight play very symphonic progressive metal. They have a unique sort of energy to their songs, marrying the sing-along/airdrum-along appeal of simpler metal with the subtle complexity of progressive metal.

Their first album as Beyond Twilight, The Devil's Hall of Fame, featured exceptional hard rock/metal singer Jorn Lande. His absence on Section X is felt at first, but not for long. Section X is a logical continuation of The Devil's Hall of Fame; if anything, it may be too conservative a development.

With their latest release, For The Love of Art and the Making, they have continued their pattern of pushing the musical envelope in both heaviness and complexity. This opus, which
read more...
Thanks to colt, adg211288 for the updates

BEYOND TWILIGHT Online Videos

See all BEYOND TWILIGHT videos

Buy BEYOND TWILIGHT music

More places to buy metal & BEYOND TWILIGHT music

BEYOND TWILIGHT Discography

BEYOND TWILIGHT albums / top albums

BEYOND TWILIGHT Eye for an Eye album cover 3.50 | 2 ratings
Eye for an Eye
Progressive Metal 1994
BEYOND TWILIGHT The Devil's Hall of Fame album cover 3.97 | 16 ratings
The Devil's Hall of Fame
Progressive Metal 2001
BEYOND TWILIGHT Section X album cover 3.90 | 21 ratings
Section X
Progressive Metal 2005
BEYOND TWILIGHT For the Love of Art and the Making album cover 3.96 | 27 ratings
For the Love of Art and the Making
Progressive Metal 2006

BEYOND TWILIGHT EPs & splits

BEYOND TWILIGHT live albums

BEYOND TWILIGHT demos, promos, fans club and other releases (no bootlegs)

BEYOND TWILIGHT The Edge album cover 4.00 | 1 ratings
The Edge
Progressive Metal 1992
BEYOND TWILIGHT Lurking Fantasia album cover 3.00 | 1 ratings
Lurking Fantasia
Progressive Metal 1999

BEYOND TWILIGHT re-issues & compilations

BEYOND TWILIGHT singles (1)

.. Album Cover
0.00 | 0 ratings
Sail Away
Progressive Metal 1994

BEYOND TWILIGHT movies (DVD, Blu-Ray or VHS)

BEYOND TWILIGHT Reviews

BEYOND TWILIGHT The Devil's Hall of Fame

Album · 2001 · Progressive Metal
Cover art Buy this album from MMA partners
lukretion
When his previous band, power metal act Twilight folded, Danish keyboard player Finn Zierler embarked in a new project, aptly named Beyond Twilight to mark a sort of continuity between the two bands. In fact, Beyond Twilight begin where Twilight ended: Zierler’s new creature takes the power metal epicness of his former band and morphs it into a dark, progressive beast that may draw parallels with acts like Kamelot and Evergrey for the brooding, theatrical nature of the music on display. If you are however expecting a minor record that follows the footsteps of the aforementioned more well-known acts – think again: The Devil’s Hall of Fame is a stunning masterpiece that vastly surpasses most releases in the dark progressive/power metal genre. Here is why.

First of all, Beyond Twilight’s line-up on this release can count on one of the most formidable singers in metal: His Majesty Jørn Lande. Here at the beginning of his lustrous career, the Norwegian vocalist combines the grit and power of Ronnie James Dio with the soulful delivery of David Coverdale. His performance on The Devil’s Hall of Fame is absolutely spectacular, injecting power and feeling into beautiful vocal melodies that are catchy and instantly memorable, but never banal or boring. The rest of the lineup is also very solid. Bassist Anders Lindgren and drummer Tomas Fredén, who had already played on Twilight’s debut album, provide a reliable backbone that strikes the right balance between simple groove and intricate playing. Anders Kragh is a skilled and versatile guitarist who adapts his playing to suit the different needs of the music, from muscular no-frills riffs, to subtle melodic leads, to tricky technical passages and blazing solos (“Hellfire”). Beyond Twilight’s mastermind Finn Zierler is also a very proficient player. I particularly enjoy the wide range of keyboard sounds and samples he employs on the album, and the use he makes of the instrument – always very imaginative and inventive.

Strong musicianship counts for little without strong compositions. Fortunately, this album has both. Its eight tracks are exceptional examples of how to write keyboard-driven prog metal that is not just all technical twiddly bits and intricate songwriting, but also has feeling and depth. The intricacies of prog are certainly there, as most songs follow feature frequent tempo changes, plenty of instrumental detours, unusual melodic solutions (the suddenly uplifting second part of the chorus in “Shadowland”), and unexpected turns (the extravagant Latin choirs in the title-track and “Perfect Dark”). But each song is also cleverly anchored in excellent melodic ideas that hook you in and make the music immediately enjoyable and memorable. Credit here goes to both Zierler who composed and arranged all music, and Lande, who wrote the vocal melodies. I also dig the overall mood of the album, dark and ominous. It is a perfect match for the dystopian sci-fi concept that runs through the record, about a man who travels through the depths of his own mind and slowly loses grip with reality.

There are no dull moments on this album. Each song is a small gem, from the bleak and hyper-heavy “Godless and Wicked”, to the hard rock accessibility of “Shadowland”, to the two short, evocative instrumentals “The Devil’s Waltz” and “Closing the Circle”. My favourite songs are the title-track and the closing piece “Perfect Dark”. The former is a sprawling epic that covers a lot of ground, traversing different moods and musical styles from its doomy first part to the proggy extravaganza that explodes halfway through the second half, in a way that reminds me of Arjen A. Lucassen’s best (and heaviest) work with Ayreon and Star One. As per its title, “Perfect Dark” is a perfectly dramatic conclusion to this awesome album. Foreboding, slow and sinister, it is powered by a massive crescendo where Jørn Lande is at its absolute best.

In summary, if you are a fan of progressive metal – especially its dark, melancholic variety – you simply must listen to this album. I struggle to find things to criticize (perhaps the sound production is a bit thin), or to pinpoint better records in the genre than this. Instantly enjoyable and with great repeated listen value, The Devil’s Hall of Fame is up there with the best music of Ayreon, Evergrey, and Kamelot. Beyond Twilight will go on to record two further albums, although Mr Lande will step down from his role as vocalist after this one. It’s a pity, as his vocals clearly play a big role in making this record such a masterpiece. But the quality of the music is really high too, so I very much look forward to listening to Beyond Twilight’s other two records as well.

BEYOND TWILIGHT For the Love of Art and the Making

Album · 2006 · Progressive Metal
Cover art Buy this album from MMA partners
martindavey87
After two incredible albums of high-quality progressive metal, Danish band Beyond Twilight shoot themselves in the foot by getting a bit too artsy and fancy with 2006’s ‘For the Love of Art and the Making’. The clue is clearly there in the title. At 38 minutes in length, and featuring 43 tracks, each barely a minute long, the idea behind this release is that the tracks can be played in any order and, depending on how you listen to it, it supposedly can bear different meanings each time.

Yeah, alright.

Can anyone truly say they listened to this more than a couple of times without losing interest? Just as you start to enjoy one segment it skips straight to the next. And everything is so disjointed, no matter what order you play it in. In fact, I tried it a couple of times in random orders, and nothing flows smoothly at all. Additionally, it’s near-impossible to really understand any of what’s going on without actually knowing the lyrics. Bugger that!

It’s a huge shame, as Beyond Twilight’s previous two releases, 2001’s ‘The Devil’s Hall of Fame’ and 2005’s ‘Section X’ are genuinely fantastic albums. These guys are amazing musicians and have an instantly distinctive sound of their own. And while the idea behind ‘For the Love...’ is interesting and massively ambitious, they just weren’t able to make anything substantial come out of it.

I give the album two stars simply because there is some great musicianship and performances, and there are a couple of moments that are pretty neat (if, by pretty neat, you don’t mind songs that last barely a minute). But overall, this album is a huge disappointment, and at the time of writing this review the band haven’t done anything since. Coincidence? I doubt it. Art for art’s sake? Art over substance? Whatever. This album sucks.

BEYOND TWILIGHT Section X

Album · 2005 · Progressive Metal
Cover art Buy this album from MMA partners
martindavey87
Released four years after their debut, 'Section X' gives us a second dark and twisted glimpse into the mindscape of Danish prog metal group, Beyond Twilight. With another concept album based around themes of cloning, manipulation and perversion, it's a pretty bleak story, but it makes for some great music!

Beyond Twilight have a fairly unique and distinctive sound, with lots of dark passages that really conjure up images of perverted horror. Their sound is very gothic and gloomy, with powerful, multi-layered vocals and interplay between numerous guitars and keyboards. It's a very atmospheric release, which is surprisingly short for a concept album (at 45 minutes), but will still require a number of listens to really familiarize yourself with the music.

But that's nothing new to us prog fans, right?

Although there are very slight moments where the music tends to drag and feels self-indulgent, overall the album flows diligently. Highlights include 'The Path to Darkness', 'Section X', 'Shadow Self', and what is probably one of the bands finest pieces, 'Ecstasy Arise'. These songs alone make this album a notable addition to any prog metal fans collection, and help define Beyond Twilight as a truly underrated band that are worthy of your time.

BEYOND TWILIGHT The Devil's Hall of Fame

Album · 2001 · Progressive Metal
Cover art Buy this album from MMA partners
martindavey87
Rising from the ashes of power metal band 'Twilight', Danish prog metallers Beyond Twilight's first release 'The Devil's Hall of Fame' is a very twisted journey into the depths of the human mind, and certainly not a record for the weak-hearted.

Having a concept album for a debut can be a big risk for any band, but Beyond Twilight pull it off here, with incredible compositions and production that sound as though they are coming from a band with years and years of experience together. It's exciting to listen to this and imagine what else this group can come up with.

Keyboardist Finn Zierler's layer-upon-layer of dark and gloomy melodies fits perfectly with Anders Kragh's haunting and exciting guitar riffs, all perfectly played in minor keys to bring the best depressions out of anyone. And this chilling and epic tale is told wonderfully by a man who has one of the most "metal voices" out there, Jorn Lande. Highlights of this incredible first- time outing include the dark 'Godless and Wicked', the psychotic and twisted 'The Devil's Waltz' and 'Crying', a song as beautiful as it is chilling.

An interesting and very exciting debut, this certainly isn't the album you'd choose to help lift your spirits, but for some incredibly dark and gothic prog metal, this is a fantastic debut from a band who shows limitless potential.

BEYOND TWILIGHT Section X

Album · 2005 · Progressive Metal
Cover art Buy this album from MMA partners
Warthur
Beyond Twilight's Section X is living proof that piling up all the cheesy symphonic power-prog metal clichés you like won't be of much help if you don't manage to establish an emotional connection to the listener. Your mileage may vary on this, but for my part I find the album to be over-busy and too concerned with showing off the band's technical prowess to really capture the atmosphere they seem to be aiming for. May be a decent listen if you like bland prog metal that brings the technical chops to the table, but for my part I just don't get the appeal of this one.

BEYOND TWILIGHT Movies Reviews

No BEYOND TWILIGHT movie reviews posted yet.

BEYOND TWILIGHT Shouts

Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Recycle Brain Crust Punk
C.P.G
Buy this album from MMA partners
Cartography Of The Mind Deathcore
TETHERED
Buy this album from MMA partners
Misery Will Come to Claim Us All Deathcore
GHOST OF ELHR
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Temptation Of Pain Metalcore
SALTWOUND
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us