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From Beyond is the fourth album from Swedish purveyors of old-school Heavy Metal Enforcer. The basic formula remains the same; twin guitars, galloping bass, melody-soaked riffs and high-pitched vocals, all things that sucked so many of us in back in the 80s. There are plenty of catchy choruses on tracks like "The Banshee" and "Farewell" but fewer than there was on the last album, Death by Fire. In fact, From Beyond is like a slightly paler version of its predecessor, one with a little less oomph and originality. On the plus side, where Death by Fire was an unmitigated speed-fest, Enforcer slows things down a bit especially on the closer "Mask of Red Death" (there are at least 30 songs listed on Metal-Archives with this, or a similar, title; viva Poe!) Even though this song isn’t as epic as it could have been I give Enforce credit for shaking things up.

I will never NOT like this style of music and Enforcer does it as well as any band out there today. From Beyond is a very good album but falls short of great by virtue of sounding too much like stuff the band has done before, right down to its Maiden-esque instrumental ("Hungry They Will Come"). Don’t hesitate to check out this band especially if you like early Iron Maiden, Riot or Witch Cross just start with Death by Fire or Diamonds and work you way to From Beyond.