The first instalment of a 2-parter LP release Automata I by Prog-Metal titans Between The Buried And Me have really pushed their boundaries in all they have done, with not one record giving the same speech, a fresh approach each time. Don’t be fooled by there only being 6 tracks as we have a track spanning over 10 minutes closing the release. Condemned To The Gallows kicks things off with a clean guitar and of course the experimentation of time signatures as expected from the kings of oddity. The combination of classic keyboard sounds and synthesiser effects have always contributed as a brilliant addition to their genre-defying creations as proven in House Organ with laser effects breaking any rules that hold a genre back from what is unique.
Yellow Eyes boasts a near 9-minute mind blowing experience that leaves in your mind what to say about such diversity, covering all bases starting with an epic boss-battle like theme you’d expect on a Gameboy game, a fast paced blast and a psychedelic lyrical melody like Scott Weiland, and a bridge that involves a bass solo, followed by a very 8-bit lead effect (Giving even more evidence of the prior comment regarding epic boss-battle music). Millions to me sounds like one of the more simplicity tracks of the BTBAM catalogue in the sense that as a first time listener, you can find the rhythm easier than most releases. Gold Distance acts as a quiet minute interlude before frazzling your mind with the classic riffage on Blot, a 10-minute masterpiece that shows their true power of why they fit into such a vast category of the music scene. The technicality within this spiralling symphony bring out the best in BTBAM leaving me thinking “Is there anything these guys can’t do? Is there a challenge out there they can’t conquer?”. The fact that they are determined to challenge their own abilities in what seems like proving a point to themselves in their progression as a band, they have really found their true sound in this near 2 decades of passion and hard work putting their heart into the art of music, I sure as hell can’t wait for Automata II.
Between The Buried And Me – Automata I will be released on Sumerian Records and drops on 9th March.