Between The Buried And Me - Colors
Rating
RIYL
Porcupine TreeKing Crimson
Dream Theater
Dillinger Escape Plan
Lye By Mistake
Release Date
09/18/2007
Label
Victory RecordsTracklist
1. Foam Born: (A) The Backtrack2. Foam Born: (B) The Decade of Statues
3. Informal Gluttony
4. Sun of Nothing
5. Ants of the Sky
6. Prequel to the Sequel
7. Viridian
8. White Walls
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Between the Buried and Me released what could be considered an instant classic with their 2005 album, Alaska. A juggernaut of a record, Alaska proved that metalcore bands can evolve beyond basic breakdown oriented songwriting and incorporate elements of progressive rock and even psychedelia. Not content with releasing a similar album, BTBAM further their evolution by outdoing Alaska in almost every aspect. The songs are longer, the writing is more creative, and the musicianship is unparalleled. Clocking in at over 64 minutes, Colors is no less an album than it is an experience.
With an album this ambitious and epic, it is imperative that it begins with an attention grabbing intro. The band accomplishes this beautifully with the captivating “Foam Born: (A) The Backtrack” which starts with quiet piano and surprisingly tight sung vocals before the guitars kick in running up and down the scale with impressive ease. “Foam Born: (B) The Decade of Statues” continues down the heavy ending of the introduction. It finishes with some start and stop math metal riffs that would have members of The Dillinger Escape Plan smiling proudly.
“Informal Gluttony” starts with a surprisingly jammy mix of percussion and guitars. The song also contains a haunting chorus of “Feed me fear” which is very reminiscent of something that could be heard on a Porcupine Tree album. Don’t get the impression that this is a totally melodic song, however. Besides the two aforementioned parts, it’s as brutal as anything else on the record. It does, however, have the most replay value as it is one of the shorter tracks despite its length of almost 7 minutes.
“The Sun of Nothing” establishes how BTBAM will retain your attention throughout the record by making each song more epic than the preceding track. Most bands have trouble writing a song that can keep your attention for over 10 minutes. But with BTBAM, you would be hard pressed not to be completely enthralled by this track. They switch things up at the right moment, incorporate interesting moments, and lead the listener into each section with incredible musicianship. I could even hear some Mr. Bungle influence towards the beginning of the song.
“Ants of the Sky” is my personal favorite but also displays the reason why this album isn’t for everyone: they cram a lot of ideas into one song. It will, without a doubt, be overwhelming for those who don’t listen to progressive tech metal or anyone that has a short attention span for that matter. The key to this song is its genuine rock and roll influence and squealing guitar solo that comes into play early in the track. There are some moments of pure adrenaline that will have you headbanging followed by some atmospheric almost adult contemporary bridges. The music comes to a boil then cools down with some beautiful clean guitars towards the end. The transitions throughout this song are impressive to say the least. The ending has a great King Crimson feel and a guitar solo that really sets the mood. The last minute hoedown part is the only thing that threw me off, although it’s no less entertaining. Hearing them go from that section back into the song will probably put a smirk on even the toughest metalhead’s grizzled face.
Colors continues its creative streak with the epic and anthemic guitar riffs that begin “Prequel to the Sequel.” The vocals and builds in this song are tremendous and a nice contrast to the following track. “Viridian” is a spacey Pink Floyd interlude leading into the mammoth closer, “White Walls” which is the longest and heaviest track on the record but unfortunately also the weakest. This is the one moment on the album where I feel they may have overreached and actually tried to cram too many riffs into one track. It’s as if the band is trying to run through the history of metal in one long song. It is an interesting concept but doesn’t necessarily make for a good listen. The song serves as a decent closer regardless and ends with a nice piano reprise of “Sun of Nothing.”
It might seem like a track by track analysis is a spoiler to the album but there is nothing like actually hearing how it is all put together. You can read descriptions of each song all night long but it will do no justice to the actual arrangements. And some of the credit has to go to Jamie King whose production I have always been a fan of. He gets just the right balance out of such complex structures and lush instrumentation. The term maturity is often thrown around when a prolific band releases a new album, but I think it is finally appropriate to use here. BTBAM went all out for this release and have actually outdone themselves maturing beyond their years. Hearing how much they have changed from their humble metalcore beginnings to Colors is truly remarkable. This is evolution in the finest sense.
--Dave Spak
Comments
Minnesota
Find me EVERYWHERE:
East Lansing, MI
PA
Music Blog.
Depths blog. (my band)
Colorado Springs, CO
Florida, USA
Fort Bragg, CA
Markham, ON
P.S. This is what the alphabet would look like if you removed Q and R.
Infinitely Inwards
Yes, Yes, and Triple Yes.
Ever Forthright - Ever Forthright
Fallujah - The Harvest Wombs
The New Law - The Fifty Year Storm
ERRA - Impulse
Aborted - Global Flatline
Steven Wilson - Grace for Drowning
Crippled Black Phoenix - (Mankind)The Crafty Ape
true.
Bedford, OH
Ace cd.
Though, I'm not sure how to place it in my top 2007 list still.
rasta
Spokane, Washington
current listenings:
Of Virtue - "Heartsounds"
Capsule - "No Ghost"
Century - "Red Giant"
James Vincent McMorrow - "Early In The Morning"
Blind Pilot - "We Are The Tide"
I don't remember what it sounded like.
Claremont, CA
Norman OK
I just saw them last Friday, and was quite disappointed. I didn't think they could really pull it off live, or if they could, you just couldn't hear it.
And being crowded in with tons of huge sweaty metal dudes didn't help matters.
Claremont, CA
that sucks. i've seen them a few times, each time they're pretty fuckin amazing. and yes, the bro shows certainly don't help.
Cincinnati, OH
Norman OK
This was my first time to see them, so perhaps I just caught a bad night.
SCV, CA
PA
Music Blog.
Depths blog. (my band)
Green Brook, NJ
Sacramento, CA
I'm not here to make things better; only to observe and pass judgement.
Texas
Edmonton, AB
Miami, Fl