Between the Buried and Me is one of those bands, along with Opeth and Dream Theater, that you either love or hate. Yet, just like the aforementioned bands, it has an uncanny ability to write some of the most technical music you will ever hear. Its first CD, Between the Buried and Me, was very technical and brutal. It showed what these kids from Winston-Salem were capable of. The Silent Circus and Alaska — their second and third CDs, respectively — showed us how they could mix some melody along with brutality, while still keeping it very progressive.
However, on its latest CD Colors, it mixes all of the aforementioned elements into one amazing masterpiece. They were able to combine the brutality of its earlier work, as well as mix in melody and soft parts into the same song which, moments ago, was very heavy. All the while is is playing very technical and complex guitar, drums, bass and keyboard parts.
From the opening track — “Foam Born (a) The Backtrack,” which lulls you into a false sense of security with a slow-moving piano piece reminiscent of The Beatles until it kicks in with blasting drums and a synthesizer solo which is all over the board — you will not want to put this CD away. It is truly a progressive metal masterpiece. The songs suck you in with fast brutal parts, such as “Foam Born (b) The Decade of Statues,” with its shifting time signatures, chaotic drums, blazing sweep picking with the guitars and death metal vocals.
Drums slowly transition us to “Sun of Nothing,” during which apes and primal drums contribute to a jungle vibe (a blasting drum solo then leads to manic riffing and drumming and a weird circus segment). However, out of all the songs on the CD, this one has the best breakdowns — and multiples of them — as well as a beautiful melodic part that shows off BTBAM’s ability to merge the brutal and the beautiful together to create an awesome song. The next two songs, “Ants of the Sky” and “Prequel to the Sequel,” are the highlights of the album. “Ants” starts of with one of the most complex and intricate solos I have ever heard, and leads into an epic song which has everything a BTBAM fan would love, including a polka drinking scene, jazz guitar solo and a cowbell. “Prequel” gives us a happy guitar solo, only to slow down into a blazing prog thrash hit.
This CD is truly a masterpiece not to be looked away from. The only flaw is that it is intended to be listened to as one whole CD, not in part, so when you listen to songs separately or at random, something is lacking. Colors needs to be one that you own.
