DUNGEON: One Step Beyond

Produced by Lord Tim

Delving into their melting-pot of influences, Dungeon came up with eight tracks of pure metal class on One Step Beyond. Even amid drastic line-up changes, one of Australia’s top true metal forces was able to unleash a solid and fitting follow-up to A Rise to Power, one of the very best Australian metal albums of all.

As their second truly international release, there was a lot riding on this, and the band showed they were up to the task immediately with “The Power Within” opening proceedings with a crunching guitar sound and some effective European-style multipart vocal harmonies building a catchy chorus, aspects that are mirrored strongly in the next track “Against the Wind”. “The Art of War” is a real stand out, the first song from the album to feature in live sets and retaining all of its glory in its studio form, showing the further flowering of Dungeon’s more thrash metal direction. That move is near-perfected in the blistering “Surface Tension” and its Gothenburg-inspired guitar melodies. The more introspective “The Hunger” is nicely positioned between these two, the closest this band is ever got to a real ballad. On the other side of “Surface Tension” is the pirate epic “Terrano del Mar”, a true highlight with its somewhat elaborate arrangement that infused all of Dungeon’s stylistic flirtations. The title track blazes a trail of smoke as the band lays rubber like never before and the album ends on another high note as Dungeon dives into Australian history for inspiration with “Under the Cross”, an epically-structured piece that tells the tale of the Eureka Stockade in the 150th anniversary year of that event.

As usual Dungeon weren’t reinventing the wheel here but One Step Beyond is wildly catchy heavy metal that features typically breathtaking, wrist-breaking guitar work and simply great songs. The rather flat, lifeless drumming is a little bit of a downer however. At times too, the album was in danger of being over-produced, lacking something of the immediacy of its predecessors. Nonetheless, anything bearing the Dungeon name was nothing less than quality and that is true of this album as well. An album for metal fans everywhere.

1. The Power Within
2. Against the Wind
3. The Art of War
4. The Hunger
5. Surface Tension
6. Terrano del Mar
7. One Step Beyond
8. Under the Cross
9. Epilogue

Rating: 90%