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Call me a little biased on this one.
I’ve become a huge fan of North Carolina’s Between
The Buried And Me (oddly, the name comes from a Counting Crows
song) over the past year and a half. For those that have never
heard this band before, it is unlikely you will hear anything
quite like them. BTBAM is deemed “progressive metal”
but their music defies even that easier characterization,
as the band mixes pop, prog-rock, death metal and pretty much
everything else you can think of.
The band’s earlier releases tended to stay close to
their metal roots, albeit with a progressive influence. The
band’s 2005 release Alaska began incorporating
acoustic elements and 2007’s critically acclaimed Colors
used everything but the kitchen sink: acoustics, metal breakdowns,
piano-style keyboard playing and, yes, even a country hoedown.
BTBAM’s latest release, The Great Misdirect,
continues and expands upon the styles incorporated on Colors.
And while the ending is not quite as satisfying as it is on
Colors, the band continues to unleash some of the
most challenging and innovative sounds in metal today.
The Great Misdirect begins with the almost soft,
surf-guitar inflected “Mirrors,” a similar opening
trick as the band used on Colors’ “Foam
Born (a) The Backtrack.” Still, the song shows the band’s
gift for melody and that, when they want to, these guys can
do pretty melodies better than most pop groups can. “Mirrors”
immediately segues into the first single, “Obfuscation,”
a track that provides a 9-minute demonstration of what BTBAM
can do. Vocalist and keyboardist Tommy Rogers gives a nasty
death metal growl over a suffocating metal breakdown from
guitarists Paul Waggoner and Dustie Waring. At around the
four-minute mark, the band segues in and out of an almost
dreamlike section with a dose of thrash, highlighted by a
bass/guitar duel between bassist Dan Briggs and Waggoner,
before ramping things up again for a boot-stomping big finish.
“Disease, Injury, Madness” is an 11-minute dose
of prog-metal in its simplest form, so much so that it should
come with Roman numerals or letters attached. The first section
is pure death metal. At the two-minute mark, things shift
into Pink Floyd mode with a soft guitar-keyboard interlude.
The guitars and drums pick up again as the song winds down
as Waggoner plays a David Gilmour-inspired blues solo. The
horse noises in the background may be a bit much though.
“Fossil Genera – A Feed From Cloud Mountain”
starts off with a circus-like introduction before the band
joins in and slowly turns the song into a crushing headbanger.
The song the evolves into an almost country sounding song,
with a mellow acoustic guitar by Waring, a sad guitar solo
by Waggoner and a light, but trippy vocal by Rogers.
This only sets the stage for the 5-minute interlude “Desert
Of Song,” which features shared lead vocals by Waggoner
and Rogers. The song has an almost campfire vibe to it, especially
as Waggoner sings in a countrified croon. There’s an
almost Layne/Jerry Alice In Chains dynamic here. It’s
one of the most intriguing songs BTBAM has ever done and shows
that this is no mere metal band.
As great as the first five songs come off, the band’s
only misfire is the nearly 18-minute (yes, 18 minutes) closer
‘Swim To The Moon.” While the song does have some
amazing playing from all five band members – a bad ass
Celtic guitar call-and-response around the 10-minute mark
and a nice acoustic breakdown at the end – it’s
the only track where it feels like the band is showing off.
It’s as if the band had so many ideas they didn’t
quite know how to end the record. While “White Walls”
from Colors also lasted 15 minutes, that song seemed
to flow better, whereas “Swim To The Moon” seems
to go on and on.
Still, that’s a blip on what is otherwise a terrific
album. Many critics may point out that BTBAM’s flashy
solo work and long song times (half the songs are more than
11 minutes) is excessive and, truth be told, it is. But it’s
that excess that helps make this band a unique listening experience
in metal. There aren’t many groups out there willing
to take these kinds of chances and do it in a way that comes
off beautiful and brutal at the same time. While I don’t
think it’s quite the masterpiece Colors was,
The Great Misdirect is a worthy follow-up.
®2009 Live-Metal.net
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