carrotcake

     When I first heard their music I was completely blown away. Nearly everything that these guys play is perfectly executed. This band has basically inspired me with almost everything music related considering I'm a musician myself. They have opened me up to be as creative as possible, thinking about what to play next, and how to transfer from time changes that could throw nearly anybody off. This band that I'm talking about is none other then the almighty Between the Buried and Me.

     Now, not many metal bands today are as talented and so intricate playing wise. I mean Between the Buried and Me could go from straight hardcore metal to a smooth, soothing jazz feel. Normally, someone would listen to one song by Between the Buried and Me and say it's “too noisy” just because of the metal parts. Well, if they took the time to appreciate some of Between the Buried and Me's songs and listen to the whole thing then they would probably love them even if they were a fan of music that is the complete opposite of Between the Buried and Me, making this band quite diverse and beyond-the-limit of musical genres.

     The band has had many line-up changes that all consisted of five members. They are currently Tommy Rogers on piano and vocals, Paul Waggoner and Dusty Waring on guitar, Blake Richardson on drums, and my personal favorite, Dan Briggs on bass. These guys are immensely talented at their instruments and could make anyones jaw drop. Tommy for example does scream as apposed to most bands that normally have a singing vocalist. But, he actually does have an amazing singing voice that's absolutely beautiful. Now, Paul and Dusty never seize to amaze me. Especially Paul, he's basically the lead guitarist because his riffs are mind boggling. Now, don't think I'm leaving Dusty out. He keeps a great rhythm and also has some pretty sweet lead parts as well. OK, just to let you know, Blake is a machine on drums. He's perfectly flawless live and has fills in all the right places making the music way more interesting. Last, but certainly not least we have Dan Briggs from Erie. Man, oh man can this dude play bass. His grooves will literally put you in a trance. He's been my inspiration as a bass player for awhile now, so I look up to him.

     Between the Buried and Me has had five studio albums during their career. They are (from past to present): Between the Buried and Me (Self-titled), The Silent Circus, Alaska, The Anatomy Of, and Colors. Between the Buried and Me's first album was simply titled: Between the Buried and Me. Even though it was their first album it's still a masterpiece. The Self-titled shows off a lot of their “hardcore” side whilst still having some melodic interludes thrown in. My favorite song would without a doubt have to be “More Of Myself To Kill”. It's an amazing opener to the album (considering it's the first song). The beginning of it is a mixture of metalcore riffs and breakdowns that any heavy music fan would love. But, after awhile it surprisingly breaks into a clean vocal harmony that is breathtaking and beautiful all at once. Then, the outro is just a reprise of the intro with sweet outro.

    The next album that Between the Buried and Me released was a real mind-blower, it was The Silent Circus. This album has a different line-up though, so it changed their sound slightly, but in a good way. A favorite of mine from that album would definitely be “Destructo Spin”. It's based on political views about how our country is just a game of riches that needs to be ran by a real leader. I related to this song instantly seeing how bad our country is today. Overall, this album is once again flawless and sets a “tone” for Between the Buried and Me.

     After The Silent Circus was out for a year Alaska was released in 2005. At this point the players are (and still are): Tommy Rogers, Paul Waggoner, Dusty Waring, Dan Briggs, and Blake Richardson. In my opinion, Alaska was very well-produced making the sound a little too perfect. But, the good side is that it has two of the best songs ever written by Between the Buried and Me: “Backwards Marathon” and “Selkies: The Endless Obsession”. “Backwards Marathon” is an all around great song, and it just keeps pummeling you with riff after riff. Then, it's starts to get a little slower and breaks into the most beautiful interlude I have ever heard. It's actually a few measures played over and over, but it's so well written that it doesn't even matter how many times it's repeated. It's without a doubt a favorite in my top favorite Between the Buried and Me songs. First off, I don't think I can even explain how amazing “Selkies: The Endless Obsession” is. It's intro will probably have a progressive pioneer mesmerized in a heart beat. After the intro it starts breaking into fast metalcore which somehow meshes into another soft interlude followed by a spine tingling jazz solo. All of that leads into one one of the greatest guitar solos I have ever heard in my life. Oh, and if you were wondering, “Is it just something played really fast?”, then no, your wrong, the whole solo has a perfect melody that starts out slow then progresses to sweep picking from heaven. From there it ends with an arpeggio run played till the end of the song. Alaska is one of my favorite Between the Buried and Me albums and it gave me the guidance to pick up an instrument and play songs from it.

     Between the Buried and Me's next album that wasn't too highly anticipated was The Anatomy Of . There isn't too much depth with this album because of the fact that it's just a bunch of covers that Between the Buried and Me rerecorded to show their fans what kind of music inspired them. It's a well-produced album that doesn't get boring no matter how many times I listen to it.

     OK, so in September of 2007 Between the Buried and Me released what is possibly their greatest album ever recorded: Colors. This 64 minute extravaganza of an album is 8 tracks meshed into one long continuous piece of music. I honestly can't describe in words how perfect this album is. There are so many unique things about every single song on this album that it'd be impossible to choose one. Colors is definitely Between the Buried and Me's most progressive album to date while it still has their metalcore side. But, there was some things on Colors that really caught my attention on the first listen. Near the beginning of “Sun Of Nothing”, Between the Buried and Me plop the Elmo theme song right after a couple fast riffs. I thought it was so hilarious and quite random, but I absolutely loved it. Another thing that seemed somewhat random was that Between the Buried and Me put a “hoe down” breakdown in the middle of the fifth track, “Ants Of The Sky”. Again I was so amused, and very glad that they did that. The way Between the Buried and Me transited into the hoe down part was that they first played a jazz solo, then had a country cord progression, then out of nowhere a banjo's being played! So I felt like I was in an Irish pub during that bit. The last thing that Between the Buried and Me did that involved random music genre switching was that they added a polka part in the middle of “Prequel To The Sequel”. After the polka part then comes a part where Adam Fisher (the lead singer of Fear Before The March Of Flames) does a dual vocal bit with Tommy. Dan Briggs had many “shining” moments in Colors, but there was one song that really stood out. In the song “Viridian”, Dan has a free time bass solo that made me want to quit bass guitar, surprisingly I am lucky enough to know how to play it now. Since I've explained the main highlights of Colors I'll just try and sum it up in a couple of words. Well, I think it's Between the Buried and Me's best work and I have no idea how they're going to manage to top it on future albums.

     In general, Between the Buried and Me will probably be liked by any heavy music fan. Everything about Between the Buried and Me is wonderful. The members are very nice, chilled, and laid backed; you probably would never expect these guys to play the music that they do if you saw them in everyday life. Between the Buried and Me is hands down one of the most dedicated song writers ever. Sadly, I haven't personally met any of the members of Between the Buried and Me, but hopefully that will change in the near future. Overall, Between the Buried and Me are utterly flawless when they play and are amazing musicians with a dedication to what they love the most in their life, music.