Customer Reviews

Between The Buried and Me

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BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME - Between The Buried and Me
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I cannot fathom the fact this was recorded "Live"
(For those that do not know.... that doesn't mean at a live show. - With standard recording process bands usually record Drums, then guitars, then bass, vocals etc... For this album they all plugged into the mixer and recorded it at once... There are some over dubs but man, oh man.... How they did this as a live track is beyond belief)
Now that I have that off my chest I'll get to the review....
Most Hardcore/Metal-Heads have already been familiarized with "Silent Circus" or "Alaska" but this is what started it all. These eight songs combine pure madness, beauty and chaos. For a debut this album showcased some serious potential... And I'm glad to see they have exercised that potential on their more recent albums. However this album had a raw, energetic feel, which can only be captured when a band does a live recording. Even though this album may not be quite as good as there newer material, it is a fantastic debut which gets at least 1 play every few weeks.

Favorite Songs: Arsonist, Use of a Weapon, and More of Myself to Kill
-4.5 Stars

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I agree with RL512... Miles Bodmer, how the hell did you think BTBAM's self-titled 'debut' (keyword) was newer than Silent Circus? Anyway, this band epitomizes originality in the hard music scene. I give this CD a 4, if they had more studio time I give it 5. Silent Circus is a definite 5, no question. Their live show... I give it 6 out of 5 stars. Sooooo good. They know how to get the crowd into it. This is the kind of band that draws people into the hard music scene. Harsh... yet soothing.

This band is an excellent addition to the (too-) slowly growing sub-genre of progressive hardcore, alongside such bands as Candiria, Bleeding Through, and some of the more "straight-forward" thrashcore bands like Shadows Fall, Killswitch Engage, Beyond the Embrace, and Erasethegrey. I'm not a fan of hardcore music, but bands such as these clearly distinct themselves from more monotonous ones as Hatebreed and Sworn Enemy, in that the "prog-core" bands have a singular trait that their peers lack: originality.

Often a problem that prog-core bands get is that they lack direction. This is especially so for Candiria and BtBaM, for both utilize seemingly random changes and transitions in timing, transition, and tones. Well, this is both a false accusation and a precise realization; for these two bands have precise explications behind their off-the-wall songwriting. The songwriting is simply organized chaos, but without any bombastic "wanking" or "cheese," making for a whole new kind of the proverbial cream of the crop in progressive music.

The instrumental section of the band is the usual lineup of two guitarists, a drummer, and a bassist; however, there is such tight musicianship between them, and they have enough talent to blow many an inspiring musician away. Guitarists Paul Waggoner and Nick Fletcher are full of riffs aplenty, making deep, chugging noises reminiscent of sludge metal - but wait, then it's different suddenly, and they are playing harmonized riffs and/or leads with perfect melodies, a la Swedish Melodic Death Metal...and then they're thrashing out like, well, thrash metal. Bassist Jason King backs these insane spasms and spurts of alternating, genre-fusing (and -bending) structures with ease, and while individual sections of his performances may be somewhat simple, to keep up with the constant changes is the real challenge. And then there's Mark Castillo on drums...dear God. This man is simply unbelievable, pounding away at the skins like he's using hammers to break the set apart, with great control over his double-bass-heavy assault, and endless crashing of cymbals, yet all with perfectly fluid direction.

Tommy Rogers, lead vocalist and lyricist, has a wide array of vocal assaults and delivers them with spastic and hilarious ease, perfectly harmonizing with (but often contrasting) the instrumentation. One moment he'll be screaming with throaty, guttural wails; next thing you know, he'll be growling with the fury of any death metal band's vocalist...and then suddenly he'll be singing with a clean, simply uplifting sound that is reminiscent of Thom York of Radiohead or Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth (who is also a master of contrasting growls/singing, I might add).

Now...how can I possibly describe the songs? "More of Myself to Kill" starts off as heavy grind/thrashcore, then shifts more into death metal, then into...I'm not sure how to describe it. "Arsonist," a direct attack on a specific church in Kansas (which openly protests against homosexuals), is as brutal as the harsh lyrics. There are so many moments of beautiful, distortion-free guitar harmonies and leads, haunting singing, and wave upon wave of screams and growls and fiery riffs of doom...oh, it's all such a flurry of furious/beautiful power.

I'm not being too clear in describing this album, am I? Well, just listen to it (or the fantastic sophomore effort, THE SILENT CIRCUS), and you will know what I mean. Between the Buried and Me create and dwell in a void of progressive musical psychosis...and it's easy to fall victim to it.

I personally give this cd a 7.5 out of 5, it is absolutely that good. The absolute only thing anyone could complain about is lack of studio time, which they recieved for the Silent Circus (wow) and their newest release Alaska (sweet Jesus that cd is absolute music perfection) Tommy Rogers is without a doubt one of the most talented musicians on the planet. His vocals are so widely varried throughout this entire cd its hard to beleieve one person can make that much noise. Will Goodyear did all the melodics on this cd and its the most beautiful voice Ive ever heard in a metal band, not to mention he tears it up sittin behind the drums. They mastered melodics and know when to do them without overdoing them. Its a shame that this cd is so good because nothing they ever do will ever match the originality of this release, even though their newer stuff has a better mastering. Bar none my most listened to cd I will ever own plus the sickest live show anyone will ever see.

This cd came out before a silent circus. Dont write a review unless you know what you're talking about. Regardless, this cd is amazing.

these guys play heavy harcore stuff but they managed to combine it with beautiful lyrics and beautiful slow ballads...what did they get...a beautiful yet brutal album. THe vocalist also has a very powerful voice and the rest of the band does a great job of helping out...EX:in the song More of myself to kill..at about 4 min....they slow down the brutal guitars and drums...and they all sing together...and then they start witht this beautiful and addicting beat.....that blows ur ears away!!.

Anywayz..go buy this cd cuz you wont be dissapointed...it is really ONE OF THE BEST CDS I OWN!!!

Between the Buried and Me. Good stuff. I just can't get over this album. Seriously. I have over 100 Death metal cds, 10-20 Grindcore cds and about 40 Hardcore cds and let me tell you, there's not much heavier. Also, they are just so BRUTAL! The brutality is AMAZING! I didn't think you could get this brutal! This is more brutal than Norma Jean, Suffocation, Behemoth, Kataklysm, Death, As I Lay Dying, Decapitated, From Autumn to Ashes and Every Time I Die, some of the worlds most brutal bands..... That's saying something! Between the Buried and Me are VERY brutal VERY heavy and just completely...... I can't find the right words.... I haven't heard such innovative and strong music since.... I never have! Each song is meticulously constructed so well that not one moment is boring and not one song is weak. A couple of melodies thrown in here and there, seamless riff changes, unpredictable song patterns, crystal clear production, a crazy vocalist and mind-bending time changes make sure that EVERY moment is memorable, EVERY second seems golden and that every note causes your ears to bleed.

The songwriting is unmatched by almost everything, the band is extremely talented, I really mean that! Amazing fresh riffs, technical beats, loud but well placed bass and ANGRY vocals.
Never have I seen or heard a band that is so fresh and innovative in times like these.... I recommend this strongly to all Death metal fans, i recommend it VERY strongly to Grindcore fans and to Hardcore fans? I think you should already have this.
One of my top ten favourite albums, this is up there with Reign in Blood, Master of Puppets, Waking the Fallen, Beneath the Remains, Once Upon the Cross and Sons of Northern Darkness.

BUY IT, BUY IT, BUY IT, in no way can anyone be disapointed (nu-metal fans will) unless you can't handle hardcore music of all forms. What kind of music is this? Think of Death Metal and Hardcore..... Deathcore..... I just clicked 'add to cart' on Silent Circus, can't wait!

Between the Buried and Me's self-titled debut is often overlooked due to its lack of catchy, memorable songs and riffs by comparison to the band's later records. This is largely justified... it is indeed the band's weakest record, not because of any obvious flaws but simply because it lacks standout moments. The members of the band had all recently left other bands when this was recorded, and 'Between the Buried and Me' as an entity had yet to establish the distinct identity they found on [...]. All the ingredients are present, but there are no instant classics like "Mordecai" or "Selkies: The Endless Obsession", with the possible exception of "Shevanel Cut a Flip".

Tommy Rogers' vocals, at this point, are all unrefined shrieks and hoarse screams, never remotely understandable. Unlike later albums, the clean vocals are handled by departed drummer Will Goodyear. He's got a bigger range and more confident tone than Tommy's clean vocals have had on any release to date, I'd say, but Tommy really brought a special attitude to the music once he started singing. Goodyear's vocals sound great but have the effect of making this album sound less like the BTBAM we know and love.

The variety of styles on this album is smaller, ranging from heavily harmonized melo-death riffing to dissonant, odd-metered tech-death sections packed with changes, to clean sections that don't stray far from what one might expect of a clean section on a metal album, although they're quite well written and very emotional.

Which brings me to the thing this album has that makes it worth your time and money: Raw passion. Loads of it. As many have mentioned, this was a live-in-studio recording and the band blasts through these songs with frantic abandon. There's a youthful fire and naivete to what the band are doing here. You can feel that it was truly the beginning of something.

If I haven't described the songs themselves very much, that's because it's really quite hard to know what to say about them. A lot of listening is required to memorize these structures. There's quite a bit of black metal forboding in "More of Myself to Kill", some delicious guitar harmonies in "What We Have Become", and loads of kick ass mosh-worthy breakdowns all over the album. The structures of the tracks rarely form any kind of dramatic progression, with one glaring exception, the one true highlight of the album, oddly enough about as far from a live favorite, single or anthem as you can get, the closer "Shevanel Cut a Flip". The 6 minute clean section at the end of the song contains the same beautiful melody reprised in "Shevanel Take 2" from "Silent Circus", but this time with more room to breathe and a beautiful, harmonized refrain that seems to sum up the attitude of the entire band and every song they've ever written:

"And if the world that we're forced to see / if it's false and nothing is true / then make this dream real..."

It's one of the most gorgeous, wonderful album endings I know of.

The rest of the album contains some damn good music that I'd happily recommend to any fan of this band who has digested their other 3 records, and anyone who wishes more produced recent albums such as [...] had more spontaneity and grit. 4 stars.

Between the Buried and Me's debut is an amazing album. It is a must buy for any btbam fan, and even any metalcore fan in general. There are loads of tempo changes, and the singing goes from deep growls to high pitched screams to choruses with clean vocals. All of the songs are great, but the best ones are More Of Myself To Kill, Arsonist, What We Have Become, and Shevanel Cut a Flip. Shevanel Cut a Flip is a great example of btbam's range. It begins with a fast paced assault on your ears, then suddenly enters a mellow restaurant scene with the band members talking about random things. Then it goes back into the changing tempos and screams, and finally enters a sleep-inducing acoustic section. It's really good. I would also recommend checking out their other albums if you enjoy this one.