UMUR
"Beyond into the Night of Day" is the debut full-length studio album by Canadian, British Columbia based power/heavy/progressive metal act Othyrworld. The album was released through Othyr World Recordingz in March 2005. Othyrworld was formed in 2004 after the 2003 demise of Sacred Blade, where the two members of Othyrworld came from. Othyrworld is however not a new start for Ted Zawadzki (drums, Percussion) and Jeff Ulmer (vocals, programming, piano, percussion, organ, keyboards, bass, guitars) as 9 out of the 13 tracks featured on "Beyond into the Night of Day" are re-recordings of tracks found in their original versions on Sacred Blade´s debut full-length studio album "Of The Sun + Moon" from October 1986.
Stylistically the material is power/heavy metal with progressive metal leanings (and a slight nod towards melodic thrash metal). The re-recordings feel a bit unnecessary although they are certainly performed in a both respectful and skilled manner. The sound production also sounds like something out of the 80s, which in this case isn´t a bad thing. "Beyond into the Night of Day" is overall pretty well produced and features a sound production which suits the material well. The issue with "Beyond into the Night of Day" is unfortunately the exact same issue as "Of The Sun + Moon" had, which is the quality of the vocals. Ulmer simply doesn´t have a very strong voice or a particularly remarkable delivery. His mid-range semi-thrashy vocal style lacks dynamics and variation. The few (and they are very few) higher pitched screaming vocal sections help, but they are few and far between.
Upon consclusion "Beyond into the Night of Day" is a missed opportunity. There´s nothing wrong with the quality of the songwriting (the new tracks are also great), the sound production, or the overall performances, but I would kill to have heard these songs with a more powerful and distinct sounding vocalist. Now that would have been something and I wouldn´t have sat here feeling that "Beyond into the Night of Day" is the above mentioned missed opportunity. A 3 star (60%) rating is still warranted though, as this album features many other quality features.