The Beyond were a progressive metal band from Derby, England. The band performed under this name between 1988 and 1993, then under the name Gorilla from 1995 to 1998.

The Beyond formed in 1988 as John Whitby (Vocals), Andy Gatford (Guitars), Paul Fallon (Bass) and Neil Cooper (Drums). After releasing a 3-track demo 'No Excuse', including a version of AC/DC's 'Highway to Hell'; in 1990 The Beyond released two EP's for the Big Cat Label - 'Manic Sound Panic' and 'No Excuse'; the latter including a cover of Dead Kennedys' 'California Über Alles'. By this time, Fallon had been replaced on bass by Jim Kersey. The band toured heavily, supporting Crimson Glory and Slammer.

The Beyond were then signed to EMI subsidiary Harvest (best known as Pink Floyd's label throughout the seventies and early eighties). This led to support slots with Soundgarden, Xentrix, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Acid Reign, The Claytown Troupe and Living Colour. In 1991, Harvest released the album 'Crawl' which included the singles One Step Too Far (which included covers of Mudhoney's Touch Me I'm Sick and The Doors' Break on Through (To the Other Side)), Empire and The Raging E.P.. Crawl was a diverse release with evident prog, thrash, jazz and alt influences. The following year, Crawl was released in the US on the Continuum label with a revised track listing ('Second Sight' was replaced by former UK b-sides 'Nail' and 'Everybody Wins').

In 1993 Music For Nations released Chasm. Chasm was a much more focused and dark album than Crawl. This time, the album had much more direct approach, less jazzy, occasionally veering into industrial metal territory with the help of co producer J. G. Thirlwell aka Foetus. After a tour supporting UK hard rock band Skin, The Beyond went into hiatus. In 1994, drummer Neil Cooper made up the original line up of noise-rockers Cable, but left in '95 to rejoin Whitby and Gatford on a new project...

Gorilla (completed by David Petty on bass and John Lingard on violin) released their first EP 'Extended Play' in 1995 on the Embryo label followed by 'The Shutdown EP' on the Disinformation label. Again, the band had further streamlined their sound, heavier than before, but with less complexity in the playing, allowing John Whitby's infectious hooks to stand out. In 1997 and 1998, Gorilla released the 'Who Wants to Save the World Anyway?', and 'Outside' singles. These proved to be their last singles. John Lingard left the band and they continued as a four-piece until 1998 when they disbanded.

Andy Gatford has since taken the role of frontman as lead singer and guitarist for Leon.

After a stint with bigbeat combo Psychedelia Smith, working with the likes of Fatboy Slim, in '02, Neil Cooper joined established Irish heavy metal band Therapy?.