Between The Buried and Me “The Blue Nowhere”
North Carolina’s Between The Buried and Me have truly evolved through the band’s twenty-five year career. From the origins of the band’s self-titled debut album, based on metalcore and death metal, the band would continue to evolve and grow their sound. Dabbling into genres that would become the band’s defining and identifiable sound. Their third album, 2005’s Alaska, gained the band critical praise and a growing fanbase. Showcasing that the band was on the right track in a sound that truly made the band what they would become now. It was the follow up, 2007’s Colors, that the band truly hit the progressive metalcore nail on the head. Receiving critical acclaim, positive fan reviews and ending on a lot of best of 2007 lists, the band truly established themselves as potentially the kings of progressive metalcore.
Now, eighteen years later and six more albums, along with touring with prog acts like Dream Theater, Cynic and Devin Townsend, Between The Buried and Me is set to release the band’s eleventh studio album The Blue Nowhere, their first album on InsideOutMusic. With the band’s progressive sound becoming more complex and dynamic after each release, where does this album rank on the band’s legendary twenty-five year career?
The album opens with “Things We Tell Ourselves in The Dark”. With an upbeat, pop-heavy guitar and 80’s drum beat, the song begins with an almost 80’s synth lead and groove to it. Creating a groovy, bouncy, hypnotic instrumentation. Organized chaos and dynamic and creative musicianship truly showcases the band’s musical talent. Tommy Rogers’ interesting vocals on the track shifts from smooth, clean singing, into gritty growls and then back to up-tempo, pop vocals. Blake Richardson’s in-the-pocket drumming showcases his skills as he flies all over the kit, while Dan Briggs’ groovy bass lead adds a seductive groove to the drumming. A truly, progressive, tempo changing banger that would give Dream Theater a run for its money in the song’s sheer musical composition and complexity in the instrumentation. A rich combo of real and electric drums kicks off “God Terror”. Paired up with a nasty guitar tone by Paul Waggoner, before shifting into a very electronic-heavy drum-and-bass verse section. Rogers’ vocals, to me, sounds like Dave Mustaine in some vocal delivery on certain phrases. Before his screams become prominent, with some stank on them thanks to the driving snare shots by Richardson. Definitely a lot heavier and intense compared to the more upbeat and high energy of the album opener. Definitely a heavy switch-up and shows the band can still deliver the heavy after the tonal opener that is “Things We Tell Ourselves in The Dark”.
“Absent Thereafter” continues the hostility and aggression right from the get-go. Richardson is a speed demon on the kit, as Waggoner delivers a heavy metalcore/metal riff, interspersed with acoustic guitar in it. Like Every Time I Die in the riff style, before a complete mini-acoustic solo in-between. Shifting between chugging metalcore and screaming/singing choruses, interspersed with “cow-punk” like acoustic sections before the chorus. As the band almost form’s a strange “metal hoedown” (a sentence I don’t think I’d every type in my life, but here I am). At over ten minutes, the song begins to again tonally shift and sway into post-metal with the pacing and atmosphere around the two and half mark minute mark. Letting Rogers showcase his clean vocals a lot more. The song is just one hell of a sonic journey, with shifts and musical genre changes, it really is the band really having fun and not giving a damn what people think. So what if we wanna create a boot-scoot-and boogey with chugging guitars?! That’s what we did and we loved every second of it, as did I.
After the atmospheric, acoustic-heavy driven “Pause”, drawing comparisons of Faith No More in it’s macabre creativity, “Door #3” kicks in with blasting drums and a chugging and fretboard-flying riff. Having a little more aggression in the vocals and again a lot more serious, the band is just masters of playing with expectations and confusing the listener throughout the record. Leaving the listener on the edge of their seat to see where the band will do at the end of the next musical bar. I love the flamenco-guitar led, serenading vocal performance near the three quarters mark. After a short, almost cartoon, cinematic piece “Mirador Uncoil”, we get the next track “Psychomanteum.” Just going for the jugular in the opening moments, the drums are all over the place, while the guitars shred into mathcore territory in its manic playing and start/stop pacing. Which fans of the Alaska/Colors-era of the band will adore.
“Slow Paranoid” has that sludge metal drum groove opening, while vocals and brass add an epic, almost circus atmosphere to it as the drums and guitars just hit like a freight train in syncopation. The band continues the experimentation on this almost eleven-and-a-half minute piece. Brutal in metalcore nature, moments of beautiful piano and strings, before returning for an epic conclusion near the ten-minute mark. The album’s title track’s opening strings and guitar riff immediately gave me Devin Townsend vibes in the tone, production and sheer lushness and grandeur of the guitar and bass tone that carries throughout the song’s runtime. Blending with Rogers’ vocals so perfectly. The album closes with “Beautifully Human”. A track where the whole band shines in little, micro-segments throughout the song. Acoustic guitar soars into the heavens, along with ascending piano and a nice accompanying bass lead. Closing the album with synth-heavy effects and Rogers’ vocals sounding reflective and somber.
The Blue Nowhere is an album that shows Between The Buried and Me pushing their sound into new genre-directions that some people think wouldn’t work, but the band makes it work. The hootanany, foot tapping bounce of “Absent Thereafter” shows the band having fun and really adding anything and everything to their sound and delivering a true musical challenge that the band nails perfectly. Though some songs, for me, might have gone on a bit longer than should have, the album is still a good record and delivers some of the expectations I was expecting from Between The Buried and Me. I adore band’s that challenge the norm, push boundaries and letting their freak-flag fly in diving into the waters that metal shouldn’t play with (Mr. Bungle, Melvins, Ulver are many examples of this). Between The Buried and Me are a band that will always dive into unknown waters and come back with a unique sound more dynamic, creative and experimental with each release. And i will always be ready to follow them into those waters with a good pair of headphones and an eager mind.
SCORE: 4 / 5
