Between The Buried And Me - Automata II (2018)

With the disappointment of the first "Automata" record having settled down, it is now time for Between The Buried And Me to unveil the second part to this series about dreams, social media, and the wonders of the human mind. It is a second part that has the tough task in convincing me why this record was split into two parts and why they needed to have two separate release dates. Well, here goes an early spoiler, it did not convince me, it almost made me even angrier over this dick move.

Okay, calling it a dick move might be a little excessive, but it just does not make sense in splitting "Automata" in half. If it was packaged in a double album, sort of like the latest Metallica record, I would have been more fine with it, and I do understand that some people might not have an easy time to digest a full BTBAM experience, but presenting it like two full length albums and forcing your fans to pay full price for both is just awful, especially since this second part is even smaller than the first, having only 4 songs and a playtime of 33 minutes. Those are EP numbers for any progressive metal band, you just cannot get enough satisfaction from it.

With that said though, I have to say that these 33 minutes are filled with a lot of quality. While the first part was kind of safe, not taking us too far away from our safe zone, this second part is going wild with its imagination. It is BTBAM at their best, being playful in the instrumentation, while still keeping the focus through all the twists and turns the band takes us through.

The opening track "The Proverbial Bellow" starts where "Blot" left off, and it does so with some sweet melodic riffing, signed by Paul Waggoner and Dustie Waring. It picks up some pace before settling down in a typical BTBAM middle ground, where Tommy Giles Rogers leads the way with his vocals, and the rest of the guys takes it easy to prepare for the next assault, doing so a couple of times. It is far from the most extravagant song that you will here from the band, but it is still highly enjoyable to listen to, making it an optimal album starter (even if 13 minutes is a little too meaty for something that is far from special).

After that comes the interlude "Glide", which actually has some meat to it, taking you to some bistro in France, leads you in among all the smoke and wine to a seat in front of the small stage. Then the band comes flying out in the form of the most fun song of the two albums, "Voice of Trespass". This is an 8 minute high paced jazz bonanza that is completely out of its mind. Blake Richardson is going wild behind the drum kit, Tommy goes full "ba-da-ba-da", and hands, heads, and feet nearby twitch with a frightening force. Best of all though might be that we get a return of the unexpected xylophone, which we first heard on "Extremophile Elite" in "The Parallax II". The second half of the track does slow things down a bit, but the impact that first half has is simply marvelous, easily making "Voice of Tresspass" one of my favourite BTBAM tracks of all time.

The last track of the record, "The Grid", takes the whole concept home with a delicate approach, where Tommy shows some nice emotional abilities, not with his voice, but with his keyboard that takes its time for every note, giving the "Automata" series that epic ending it truly deserves. And after listening to both these records, I still cannot understand why they were separated at birth. Together they make a very serviceable concept record that sits at around 68 minutes, which is not an awful lot considering what other bands has put out in recent time (*ahem* Therion *ahem*). It flows nicely, it has an interesting story, and as always when it comes to BTBAM, the craft is exquisite, so sawing it in half just does not feel right.

If it was released as one solid record, I would probably say that it is a very nice BTBAM album, that the first half might be a bit sluggish, but the steam it picks up around the 40 minute mark makes it all worth while. It is a solid record that might not measure up with the best of the band, but it is certainly nothing to be ashamed about. So overall, nice try lads, but please release it all in one go next time, and as a single unit. Your fans are not made of money you know.

Songs worthy of recognition: Voice of Trespass, The Grid

Rating: 8/10 Proverbial Bellows

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More reviews of Between The Buried And Me
The Parallax II: Future Sequence
Coma Ecliptic
Automata I

Between The Buried And Me - Automata I (2018)

Imagine if all your dreams would one day be projected on the television screen. That all those images you project inside your brain during the night (or day if you happen to fall asleep during that time of the day) suddenly becomes exposed to the people of the world. What would you do, what would you feel, would you even want this to happen? This is obviously a thought that the Americans in Between The Buried And Me have wondered, so they made the only sensible thing imaginable, make a record about it. But they did not stop there, because there will be a second record around this concept, with release later this year.

It is another interesting concept that this magnificent group presents, and it will be interesting to see how it will develop in its second part, but for now though, let us focus on the first part of the "Automata" series. I honestly do not think this album will be a surprise to anyone who have listened to the band in the last ten years or so. It is technical brilliance from start to finish, and that patented BTBAM sound is there without any question. If you do not like the band, then it is safe to say that "Automata I" will not change your opinion.

Fact of the matter is that there literally is no surprises in here, this album feels like a let down in several ways actually. The sudden WTF moments are close to extinct, and the modest play time of 35 minutes just makes this feel like a slightly longer EP (it is only 5 minutes longer than "The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues"), which is not nearly enough to satisfy my needs. It is only 5 songs in here, plus a needless 1 minute interlude, so it makes me wonder why "Automata" is even split into 2 parts at all. Is the second part really THAT long?

With that said though, the music is of typical BTBAM quality, in other words, pretty awesome. The opener "Condemned To The Gallows" has a slow, ominous start before the epic bang kicks off the album. It got a lot of the classic tropes, with a catchy screaming of the title thrown in to get in some awkward singalongs. The following "House Organ" is pretty forgettable, but then enters "Yellow Eyes", a grand song where we get such a great mix of the heavy and the melodic side of the band (and especially singer Tommy Giles Rogers), and the middle part has a magnificent playful style that certainly gets you into the groove. Add another memorable scream along moment, and you got a piece of tasty BTBAM candy.

The second half kicks off with "Millions", a very spacey song that would have fitted right in the "Parallax" series quite well, with some really nice guitar playing by Paul Waggoner and Dustie Waring. "Gold Distance"... is just a generic interlude, but it does eventually lead up to the longest track of the record (and the shortest title), "Blot". It does take some time to get going, but when it has built up enough momentum, it presents some of the most epic and complex music of the album. The length is no coincidence, there is a lot of technical goodness to take in here, and I am willing to swallow it all.

After that... oh wait, that was it, the album is over. Yes, it is pretty obvious, "Automata I" is the appetizer before the main course, it satisfies the hunger, but you still want more after you are done. It feels like the band is just warming up here, saving the best tricks for the second part, and it is very easy to feel disappointed by it. Unless the second record is like 1 and a half hour long, I really do not see why we have to be teased like this. It still have some really nice moments, and there is nothing to complain about the quality of the craft, but I expect to be blown away when the band returns this summer, to finish off what they started.

Songs worthy of recognition: Yellow Eyes, Condemned To The Gallows, Blot

Rating: 7/10 Gold Distances

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More reviews of Between The Buried And Me
The Parallax II: Future Sequence
Coma Ecliptic
Automata II

Between The Buried And Me - Coma Ecliptic (2015)

The latest released album that has gotten a perfect score from me in this blog was a album that was released in 2012, and was made by the band whose next record I will write more of here. That's right, the Americans in Between The Buried And Me got that perfect 10 with their ultra epic concept album "The Parallax II: Future Sequence", an incredible album that was the perfect continuation to the 3 song EP released one year earlier ("The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues"). It is a album I still come back to from time to time, and keep finding new small details that I have not discovered yet. This off course made me a little worried that the follow up to that master piece would be a let down, sort of a middle of the road album. Fortunately for us, Between The Buried And Me is not your average type of band, taking their time to make sure that their next effort would hold a high standard.

So three years have passed since the Parallax saga had been presented, and finally, the band has revealed their new story. "Coma Ecliptic, BTBAM's seventh full length effort, is a story of a man that is stuck in a coma, and relives all of his past lives he have lived during the ages. A concept well expected from the band, interesting and deep in context, having a lot of room to really build upon with their imagination. And just like they have done with several of their releases, the album itself runs seamlessly from start to finish, giving the illusion that the whole album is one big song, while in fact it is 11 songs. Just a perfect excuse to listen to "Coma Ecliptic" in its entirety.

The biggest strength to BTBAM has always been their enormous versatility, containing a unique sound that ranges from jazz and prog, to death metal. Actually, scrap the death metal part, at least for this album. "Coma Ecliptic" is the "cleanest" album made so far by the band, containing very little blast beats or harsh vocals from Tommy Giles Rogers. So for those who was hoping for a new "Prequel To The Sequel" or "Telos", tough luck, but be happy that the band is just as good even with the minimal death metal references. Tommy uses his clean vocals with great precision, creating a nice overall mood, and when he needs to use his harsh vocals, he does it equally well. The guitars are also using a cleaner approach to really give this album a unique personality that stands out against the rest of the BTBAM discography. The album is still clearly a progressive metal album, but it is without a doubt the calmest record yet made by the band.

As stated before, "Coma Ecliptic" is just like its predecessor best experienced in its entirety, but "The Parallax II..." still had a extremely strong line up of individual songs, something that "Coma Ecliptic" cannot really match, mostly since the songs goes in the same wave length, not differentiating too much from each other. However, this does not mean that the stand alone tracks in this album are weak on their own, they all hold up nicely so that those with little free time and short attention span can also enjoy the album, track by track. The previously released songs ("The Coma Machine", "Famine Wolf" and "Memory Palace") are probably the songs that contains the most memorable moments in the album, which also makes them stand out more compared to the rest of the album. But it is ultimately the small intricate details that makes you come back to a BTBAM album, and this one has lots of them everywhere, even if I do miss a true WTF moment, like the one in "Extremophile Elite" where all of a sudden, a xylophone steals the show.

Between The Buried And Me has done it again, "Coma Ecliptic" is another world class concept album that not only tells an interesting tale, but also contains amazing musicianship. The band keeps on evolving their sound with tons of different influences, while still keeping a core that is whole heartedly their own. It takes its listener to take it all in, but once it is inside your brain, you do not want to forget it, just remember back to it with a big smile on your face. The band is without any doubt the leading progressive metal band in this era, and I am stoked that I will see them live again this fall. Hopefully, I myself will not fall into a coma by then. But then again, maybe I would have to live my own version of "Coma Ecliptic" then, and that is not too shabby.

Songs worthy of recognition: Memory Palace, The Coma Machine, King Redeem / Queen Serene, Turn On The Darkness

Rating: 9/10 Dim Ignitions

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More reviews of Between The Buried And Me
The Parallax II: Future Sequence
Automata I
Automata II

Between The Buried And Me - The Parallax II: Future Sequence (2012)

There have been a ton of big releases during 2012 but I have not been more excited about any release during this year than this one. The album I am talking about is the long awaited The Parallax II: Future Sequence by the awesome band Between The Buried And Me. This album is a follow up to last years EP The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues and continues on the concept that the EP started. Now you may think that it would be suitable to review the EP before wiriting about Future Sequence but since the EP only contains three songs I will sum it up right now. It is an awesome EP. Nothing really more to say. Let us now go to the second part of the Parallax adventure.

Even though the album is divided into twelve seperate tracks I would consider this album as one 72-minute long song. The transcisions from song to song are very smooth and if you do not pay close attention you possibly wont realize that the album has changed song. But just because it feels like one mega-song you can clearly sense the difference between the different tracks. But it takes some time to know which song is which cause most of the songs on Parallax II are long and hard to get a grip at.

As usual when we talk about BTBAM, the musicality the performers perform are spot on. The riffs are great and both the vocalists does a great job to set the mood. But best, as always, is the drumming styles of Blake richardson. I still can not believe that he drums like he does. His fills and beats are unique and crazy (but not to crazy). I can not imagine a BTBAM without Richardson. He is truly amazing. Best drummer during the 21 century without a doubt.

Well, enough praising to Blake, more about the album. As always, BTBAM shows a ton of different genres during the performance. Everything from jazz, blues, fusion to metalcore and rock. A attribute that gives only advantages to the band. But even unusual instruments is getting room in Parallax II. For example, you can hear a xylophone in "Extremophile Elite". A freaking xylophone! Did you ever imagine a xylophone in a heavy metal album! Well I did not and I love it. Other parts of the album that stands out a little more is the piano riff to "Bloom", the soothing starter and closer "Goodbye to Everything" and "Goodbye To Everything Reprise" and the hard and challenging "Telos". Aah, who am I kidding, every track stands tall on their own and together they create a fantastic story.

Finally, I have only got this to say. End this year now, infact, let the apocalypse come now. There is nothing that will top this release. This is as close to a perfect album as you gonna get. I could not believe that BTBAM could not only top Colors but also crush it into little pieces. The band is bursting with creativeness and the energy the band is releasing is really unbelievable. So go get the album, let it sink in and then wait for the apocalypse. Cause there is nothing more to wait for. There is nothing more to prove.

Songs worthy of recognition: EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM!!!

Rating: 10/10 Astral Bodies

www.betweentheburiedandme.com/
twitter.com/btbamofficial

More reviews of Between The Buried And Me
Coma Ecliptic
Automata I
Automata II