Kirin's kick-ass column: Between the Buried and Me
by Kirin Furst '10
Tuesday February 19, 2008
If you’ve heard earlier albums by Between the Buried and Me, you’ll certainly remember the ridiculous spectrum of musical genres represented in their work. Although they have been classified as death metal and metal core, the band themselves seem to prefer references to progressive metal. A nice demonstration of this persuasion is their approaching tour with Dream Theater, the poster band for progressive rock. From the very beginning, Between the Buried and Me experimented with jazz, hardcore, heavy metal and Counting Crows-esque alt-rock (their name is actually taken from the Crows’ song ‘Ghost Train’). Each genre is usually represented in a musical passage distinctly separate from those preceding and following it, and the transitions are often jarring or disturbingly non-existent. In their first Victory Records album, The Silent Circus (2003), this often struck me as a symptom of disconnected composition and immaturity. However, by the 2007 release, Colors, it seems that this is actually a great outlet for them to showcase their boundary-shattering talent.
Colors displays a continuation of the refinement obvious in Alaska (2006), indulging more than ever in eclectic genre sampling. ‘Selkies (The Endless Obsession)’, track four on Alaska, is a great example of the range of styles they manage to tie together into a cohesive, momentum carrying composition. Within the first two minutes they’ve managed to push melodic arpeggio-reliant metal into a Rush worthy jam out and completely break it down into low throbbing circus-metal before a startling transition into increasingly faster paced grind-core. Similarly, ‘Sun of Nothing’ from Colors begins with a heavy as hell metal-core passage, which by the end of the song has passed through a Smashing Pumpkins worthy segment, ambiently evolving into psychedelic rock ala Pink Floyd and possibly even the Beatles. It’s like a cracked-out classical arrangement of hard rock over the last thirty years.
Most impressive is the 13 minute “Ants of the Sky,” which I’m fairly sure featured Dio at some point. They again borrow that Dog Fashion Disco circus metal sound, which passes through some real heavy parts into a jazzy blues solo, and ultimately winds up in a bar with brawling sounds and some ridiculous blue grass country, which travels almost immediately into some more metal arpeggios. It shouldn’t work in the least, and yet somehow their music is often captivatingly beautiful, always impressive, and impossible to become too familiar with. Between the Buried and Me stand as a fantastic example of how versatile the hardcore movement has become. Colors (and also Alaska) are completely fascinating explorations of the possibilities you didn’t think were possible for death metal, progressive rock, and even jazz. Just don’t try to figure out how it ultimately fits together.
