Author: Primož Novak
Artist: Between The Buried And Me
Label: Metal Blade Records
Release: year_month
Length: 68:31
Rating: 4.2/5
With their very first albums, the American band Between the Buried and Me made it clear that Dillinger Escape Plan and Converge aren’t the only ones who can play chaotic music. After a few lineup changes, BTBAM radically reshaped their style and approach. The chaos stayed, but the music itself got more progressive, with longer, more complex songs. The band wasn’t locked into a single style; there were simply no limits anymore. That was proven above all by the album Colors (2007), which still stands as the biggest milestone of their career, and which also made them one of the leading names of the modern progressive scene.
You could argue that with Colors the band had achieved everything, but with every release since, they’ve tried to do something more. The Great Misdirect (2009) and both parts of Parallax (the EP Hypersleep Dialogues and the album Future Sequence) merely confirmed the band’s recipe. They sounded better, and the surprises kept coming. For Coma Ecliptic, the band once again promised something different, citing rock operas as their model. Despite the number of albums behind them, BTBAM refuse to repeat themselves, even if it costs them some fans. It’s a process of constant evolution and experimentation that most bands don’t bother with. This time, the difference on Coma Ecliptic is also confirmed by the number and length of the songs. There’s only one ten-minute track on the record; the rest are shorter, but these are far from typical pop-structure songs.
The opener Node starts the album much like before: calm, with gentle piano and clean vocals, wrapping up as the other instruments join in. Then with the next track, The Coma Machine, the listener gets a pretty »typical« dose of BTBAM. In seven and a half minutes the band weaves in a whole bunch of elements from different genres, aggressive and calm parts combine in odd ways, the structure is unpredictable, and the chorus once again drops in rather unexpectedly. You could call it the band’s classic recipe, but if you don’t know their past, you might be more than a little surprised. The next two songs reveal the different path this album takes. The band no longer plays up the brutal metalcore side; their approach is rockier too. Tommy Rogers’ vocals focus more on singing than on screaming. Whatever the song, the band delivers surprises. In King Redeem – Queen Serene, for example, a calm section is followed by a black metal passage that turns into a syncopated run, showing how simplicity can get complicated fast. With 68 minutes of this, there are plenty of such surprises, as is only natural for this band. In just a few minutes they can pack in styles like metalcore, death metal, jazz, blues rock, seventies prog rock, or the psychedelia of Mike Patton’s various projects (Faith No More).
The closer the record gets to the end, the more it seems Tommy Rogers, the band’s vocalist and keyboardist, called the shots on this album. There’s noticeably more of his electronics and keys. In places they’re stretched out to build atmosphere, which is supposed to give the concept more substance. Because melodic vocals dominate, there are also more dreamy passages and catchy choruses. Tommy does show off a range of vocal techniques; the influence of Mike Patton is obvious, and so is Freddie Mercury’s (not in terms of pitch, but in the vocal lines). The main problem, though, is that Tommy’s voice can be grating and takes a long time to get used to. You could accuse Tommy Rogers of wanting to make a bigger solo album, for which he needed good musicians.
Luckily, the rest of the members don’t seem sidelined by Rogers stepping into the spotlight. Drummer Blake Richardson has been proving for 10 years that he can play fast and technical while also having plenty of feel for the calmer rhythms. He stands out best in the more complex sections, where his smart use of cymbals and feet spices up the song perfectly. Guitarists Waggoner and Waring deliver outstanding riffs. The emphasis is still on melody, but they’re no strangers to cacophony either, underlining that the band hasn’t given up on chaos. Waggoner doesn’t stand out as much this time with the solos that made BTBAM special, but he quickly makes up for the lack of virtuoso soloing with calm, undistorted passages. Bassist Dan Briggs isn’t neglected either, his lines nicely filling an already packed sonic picture.
The album is conceptual again, which is typical for the band and for progressive acts in general, so nothing surprising there. The concept centers on an individual in a coma who travels through their past lives while having to decide whether to stay in a particular life or go try their luck elsewhere. The songs feel somehow connected, yet they can also be understood as standalone pieces.
With Coma Ecliptic, Between the Buried and Me prove they still haven’t run out of ideas for making a different kind of album. Once again it’s a demanding, unconventional record that makes it clear music needs a lot of experimenting and openness to other genres. BTBAM deserve respect for still being able to surprise after everything they’ve already shown, with a fresh approach and an outstanding knack for songwriting.
Lineup
Tommy Rogers – vocals, keyboards
Paul Waggoner – guitar, vocals
Dustie Warring – guitar
Dan Briggs – bass
Blake Richardson – drums
Production
Jamie King
Tracklist
1. Node
2. The Coma Machine
3. Dim Ignition
4. Famine Wolf
5. King Redeem / Queen Serene
6. Turn on the Darkness
7. The Ectopic Stroll
8. Rapid Calm
9. Memory Palace
10. Option Oblivion
11. Life in Velvet
