'Before Beyond', the sophomore album by this Swiss four-piece, comes across as a melancholic soundtrack reminding of Ennio Morricone. It's music to accompany an inner movie about raptures, scars, blank spaces, fading, remembrance and longing. The ten songs are full of austere beauty, but also bring the band's sound aesthetics to yet another level. And even though Scratches operates pretty far off the beaten tracks of pop- and rockmusic, 'Before Beyond' seems to be drawn to the light and big stages much more than its predecessor.