by Greg Prato

Loads of death metal D riffs, metronome-perfect drumming, and gargling-with-Drano vocals. Yep, must be a death metal CD! And that's exactly what the 2007 debut by From the Shallows is. Beyond the Unknown flies by at the speed of sound, weighing in at only seven tracks and barely stretching past the 25-minute mark. But this concise blast of extreme metal still manages to hit the spot, especially the sonic avalanche dubbed "Battle Axe" and "Dead Bolted Hell." And the group even throws in a bit of a surprise in the middle of "Under a Killing," as a hardcore-esque gang chanted chorus rears its head. Judging from Beyond the Unknown, From the Shallows has no delusions of skyrocketing up the pop album charts (or perhaps more fittingly, EP charts); they're all about staying true to their death metal roots.