Dustin Behm
Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.
I've been writing solo music for many years to practice my song creation skills, arranging, and riff writing. After music school I spent a great deal of time writing and practicing my original solo music, so the seeds were sown from that period. I played in several bands over the years and after gaining a lot of experience with my progressive metal band Increate, I got the idea to start creating some solo music again. I set up a very small home studio and once I had written a couple tracks I realized that the sound was good enough to create my first solo album.
How would you describe your style? Which bands influenced your music?
I would describe the music as progressive metal. It actually blends a fair number of metal sub-genres together such as thrash metal, shred guitar, djent, and technical death metal. There are a lot of odd rhythms. The Beyond is inspired by early 90's progressive death metal such as Cynic, Chris Poland and Pestilence combined with a modern metal influence from Meshuggah and Allan Holdsworth.
Why should a metalhead buy your demos/albums?
Check out The Beyond if you enjoy thought provoking metal with an original sound. The music is very demanding, fast with odd rhythms and trippy solos. I attempted to keep familiar elements of the many types of metal I listen to, but approach the solos and melodies in an unorthodox way. There's a lot of variety on the album. If you're a fan of instrumental guitar music, progressive metal, or death metal there will be something to enjoy.
What have you released so far and how were your releases received by the public/media?
As far as studio recordings, my debut solo album The Beyond is my latest release and so far has been well received. My other main release was earlier this year with my progressive metal band Increate. We released our debut album Void to great reviews in February.
Do you play live as well? How's your live activity so far?
Yes, I play live with my band Increate. We've played a lot of shows around the Northwestern United States and would like to expand further in the future. I've been lucky enough to share the stage with artists such as Amorphis, Dark Tranquility, Archspire, Arkaik, Rhapsody of Fire, Inanimate Existence, Vale of Pnath, Oceano, I Declare War, The Kennedy Veil, and Disentomb among others.
What should labels/zines/promoters know about your band? Why should they be interested in it?
Dustin Behm is a progressive metal guitarist from Portland, Oregon USA. In 2005 Dustin attended the Guitar Institute of Technology at Musician's Institute in Los Angeles where he studied with world renowned guitar teachers such as Paul Gilbert, Scott Henderson, Greg Harrison and tapping master TJ Helmerich. Dustin's debut solo album The Beyond is inspired by early 90's progressive death metal such as Cynic, Chris Poland and Pestilence combined with a modern metal influence from Meshuggah and Allan Holdsworth. Dustin plays guitar, e-bow, bass, keys and programming as well as handling production duties and album layout for The Beyond.
What plans do you have for the near future as a band?
Currently I'm writing material for the next Increate record and will be playing some live shows around the Northwestern US. This year I'm also interested in exploring some new projects in addition to preparing material for a future 2nd solo album.
Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
My solo album The Beyond is available at Smarturl.it/DustinBehm for either streaming or purchase. My band Increate's album is available at Increate.Bandcamp.com
January 2018