BEYOND dew it! demo tape (1988)

1.one kind word
2.effort
3.what awaits us
4.hoax
5.seasons
6.feedback
7.vitality
8.better things to do

If you went to hardcore shows in the late 80's at all in Albany NY or even Connecticut then you probably got to see Beyond more than once. These were Great times for sure. It seemed like every kid in Albany went to hardcore shows back then, whether they were sporting a bad mullet or not. The shows were always packed and there was sorta like an Albany NY Vs. Troy NY vibe going on. Seemed The Albany kids were the punk hardcore kids, while the Troy heads had long hair and dug more metal sty lings of underground music. This is from an outsiders view, as I was only seeing shows here in the mid-late 80's when I would come home to Albany to visit family from California. One of these shows included me getting to see Beyond. It was the first time I think I'd met Brian from Glee Club, Roger from Brain Tattoo, and Buddy from Substance. People I later ended up becoming friends with after moving home again. Albany way supportive of the straight edge scene, and Beyond were part of that for sure. Watching the pile ons, and finger pointing, and moshing was always cool to see at these shows.
When I recently broke this demo out again after not listening to it for twenty years, I didn't think it had aged to well. As I listened on I realized just how awesome these dudes were for the time. You could hear the influences of Youth Of Today, Minor Threat and even a bit of Iron Maiden at times. Tom Beyond the guitarist was sorta looked up to by many of the hardcore and even some metal meat heads. His guitar playing was pretty original for the time period I guess. This demo definitely takes me back to Dave Stein's Albany NY hardcore shows. The song "what awaits us" really starts off sounding a lot like Supertouch's "searching for the light".

http://www.mediafire.com/?fmyvta6ugjj