by Mark Deming
Ohio death metal merchants From the Shallows came together in 2004, initially as a side project featuring members of the bands Let It Die, the Dawning, and the Black Dahlia Murder. Over the course of the next two years, From the Shallows gigged extensively throughout the Midwest, especially in Ohio and Michigan, and eventually settled into a lineup featuring Steffan Howey on vocals, Joey Frost and Marco Mendoza on guitars, Jon Deering on bass, and David Rhoades on percussion. As the buzz over From the Shallows grew, they came to the attention of extreme metal label Tribunal Records, which signed the band to a recording deal. The group went into the studio with producer Joey Sturgis at his Foundation Recording studio, and From the Shallows' first album, Beyond the Unknown, was released in the spring of 2007. An extensive tour with Killwhitneydead followed.