Get out your leather jackets and dust off your spandex, because here come a band that couldn’t recall that eighties metal madness any better if they had a DeLorean at their disposal. They’ve got the bad hair (except for those that completely lack it – sorry guys), they’ve got the ridiculous name and hell, they’ve got the tunes.

Sounding like the halfway house between Maiden and Megadeth, Beyond Afterlife are amongst the batch of bands that includes Wolf and Iced Earth who relive the glory days with the greatest of pride. And as anyone in the know will tell you, you don’t play this style of music if you want to get rich quick – in fact, just take a look at nearly all of the bands that made the NWOBHM so special, yup, there’s barely any that saw great success. Just ask Angel Witch, Blitzkrieg or Demon.

But it’s clear that Beyond Afterlife are an ensemble that just love their music and as they’re in good company here, it seems foolish not to reward them for it. “Pushed Around”, and “If I Die Tomorrow” are fantastic heavy metal tracks, with big choruses and even bigger solos – which despite their similarities to the scenes of yore are refreshing and above all, fun. And if I’m going to be totally honest, the day that I don’t give a good score to true and non-pretentious British heavy metal is the day that I close this website and set fire to my Maiden records – and that’s just not gonna happen.

Reveiwed by Rock Something