From Beyond Premiere “The Fall to Earth” from Scion A/V Split with ASG
Once, a very, very long time ago — okay, it was last December — thoroughly-synthed doom rockers From Beyond traveled from their native Houston to a much different land, Los Angeles. There, they met head to head in riffy combat with North Carolina’s ASG. Alright, so maybe it was less “riffy combat” and more of a Scion Rock Show, but either way, it happened. The date was Dec. 4, the show was free with an RSVP, and to continue their Rock Show series of releases that’s already resulted in the pairings of Fu Manchu/Moab and The Dirty Streets/Indian Handcrafts, Scion A/V is set to issue a split between ASG and From Beyond, and I’m happy to be able to present the latter’s “The Fall to Earth” as a streaming debut to mark the occasion.
That gig, held at the Satellite, was From Beyond‘s first in L.A. and their first as a four-piece. 
When they put out their 2012 The Color out of Space EP (track stream here), they were a trio, but it was the lineup of Robert McCarthy (guitar/vocals/synth), David Grooman (guitar), Dick Beeman (drums/vocals) and Stephen Finley (bass, Moog Taurus) that landed in Silver Lake, and their Moogery and theatrical atmospherics obviously made an impression. “The Fall to Earth” makes the most of both of these, but that doesn’t take away from the crunching largesse of the rolling riff itself once it gets going. Shades of Electric Wizard give way to spaced-out vocal harmonies, creating a strong hook and a rare balance of emotional resonance, lyrical narrative and doomly engagement.
Structurally, “The Fall to Earth” is pretty simple, setting an ambient bed with its intro before launching into verse/chorus tradeoffs and finally marching out on its fuzzy central figure, but From Beyond remain cohesive in the atmosphere and make the track more than just a meandering freakout while also keeping a decidedly open feel. The Color out of Space was an impressive release from a band who knew where they wanted to be in terms of aesthetic, but we may have only seen the beginnings of From Beyond.
Please find “The Fall to Earth” on the player below, courtesy of Scion A/V, and please enjoy:
The ASG track is set to release March 25. Scion A/V announced yesterday that this year’s Scion Rock Fest will take place in Pomona, CA, on May 17. More info at the links.
Tags: ASG, From Beyond, Houston, Scion A/V, Texas
Was at that Scion AV show w/ From Beyond & ASG when they announced the split.
From Beyond played a decent set (didn’t realize it was their first as a quartet), but ASG straight up murdered the stage.
Thanks for the stream preview of “The Dead Still Ride.” Will you also be debuting the ASG cut?
Probably not on that ASG track. They like to change it up between different sites. Glad it was a cool show though.
Thanks! \m/