A Technicolor Nightmare
Between the Buried and Me is a band that will surprise you whether you like it or not. From their origins as a chaotic outfit coming out of the early-mid 00s to their soaring progressive metal sci-fi brand of metal, the only expectation that can be carried into a new BTBAM album is that you should leave all of them at the door. The band has been successful at not being pigeon-holed to their older music by keeping fans on their toes with every album. Then they announced something no one was expecting, after the dense and amazing two part album, Automata 1 and Automata 2, they announced a sequel to the revered 2007 Colors, simply titled Colors II. The new songs integrated perfectly with their past material, showcasing BTBAM’s evolution is consistent and building on top of an already amazing catalogue toward something even bigger and better. They kicked things off with “The Double Helix of Extinction”, “Revolution in Limbo”, and “Fix the Error”, off the aforementioned Colors II. Drenched in a blinding white light for the first song, the visual aesthetic shifted toward every end of the color spectrum, painting the band in every color combination imaginable.
While Between the Buried and Me can grab you by the throat and sonically pummel an audience, there are also moments of contemplation and beauty laced throughout the chaos of it all. And the juxtaposition of beauty and darkness, mixed with unexpected twists and turns of their music are the things that have kept the band interesting for more than two decades.
Long Island’s Car Bomb opened the show, delivering a crushing set, gripping the audience from the moment they took the stage. Their performance was nonstop, leaving little room for the moshers to come up for air, a truly inspired display of why this band is as endearing as their sound is an endurance test for those uninitiated to the world of math/technical metal. Yet, for those that take on the challenge the reward is more than worthwhile.
Between the Buried and Me
Car Bomb
