The Crash Landing - Between the Buried and Me - The Great Misdirect

[About2Crash]

Between the Buried and Me - The Great Misdirect - 2009



Members
Tommy Giles Roger - Vocals and Keyboards
Paul Waggoner - Guitars
Dustie Waring - Guitars
Blake Richardson - Drums
Dan Briggs - Bass

Progressive Metalcore

Every once in a while, an album comes out of nowhere and blows you away. Often times, it's from a band that you love and respect, but sometimes it comes out of the blue from where you would never expect.

I had heard Between the Buried and Me quite a few times before "Colors" came out. "The Silent Circus" was not a bad album, it was just a metalcore album and while I am not a fan of the genre, I felt that it was about as good as one could do with that sound. Then came "Alaska". Being a guitar player, friends insisted that I gave it a listen because of the technical skills of the band. I was impressed to say the least, but shoddy songwriting and long boring passages of tech math metal overshadowed the brief moments of greatness. To this day, "Selkies: The Endless Obsession" is the only song from those two albums I bothered keeping on my Ipod. It has great place, and uses the mix between tech metal and beautiful melodic passages nicely.

"Colors" came out in 2007. I had heard from people that it was mindblowing. Unfortunately, these same people said the same thing about "Alaska" which while on the surface was good, was shallow. Myspace clips online didn't do anything to help that. But you know what? I hadn't had a good dose of prog in a while and felt like taking a chance. So I bought it.

Then, I was floored, hailing it as a modern masterpiece and an instant classic. The songs (or song) blended into one another so seamlessly that at an hour, it was a perfect ride. It quickly climbed the ranks of my personal favorites and was in my top five of the year.
Looking back, it's still a very good album. Hell, it's a great album. It doesn't get a tenth of the spins it did in the day, but it still is an impressive piece of work from some very talented players.

Where to go from here?

This is where "The Great Misdirect" comes in.

Upon first glance, it looks like this is right where "Colors" left off: Long bits of technical metal broken up with the soft and quirky bits that are the defining moments for the band, check. Longwinded solo and instrument segments, check. A laundry list of influences that can be named at the drop of a hat, check. Hmm... wait a minute.

This is fucking "Colors".

I can barely explain it. But this is just "Colors" over again. Every tech death riff sounds like one another, the wacky bits all are just extended versions of the ones from before, even the soloing just sounds like outtakes.

This is why people hate prog. There is no reason for anything. Everything is just a shallow shell with a glossy shine to distract you from the fact that nothing happens in the album. No build in the songs, not climax. In fact, the only reason that I know which songs are which are from the openings.

If you never heard "Colors", then this is probably fine. In fact, there is nothing inherently "wrong" with the album. The production is nice, it sounds good, and it's performed well. The music is just so ill conceived and useless. So much stuff is thrown in a blender at once that you end up getting so much of everything that you end up with nothing. But it feels like a cheap double of "Colors". Like if you didn't realize that someone had a twin, but somehow you can feel the difference. This album is the uncanny valley of metal, the familiarity just makes me uncomfortable.

Where is the substance? I can't find it. Listening to it now, I feel like I am being given a guitar lesson rather than hearing a song.

So who is this for? I think that it is for their primary audience, the kids who sit in their rooms and shred on Youtube instead of playing in bands and learning how to write songs. Great players, but complete automatons that don't understand that a song is more than shredding and that just because you put a moody acoustic piece in the middle it doesn't make you deep.

It's funny how this crowd doesn't get how someone could find more substance in badly produced black metal like Mayhem or Darkthrone. I can't think of any better reason than "The Great Misdirect".

I also realized that I never mentioned the huge Dream Theater influence here.
There is a big Dream Theater influence. That should be enough for most people to make their decision. Fortunately, I see through it.

Songs that Slay: Just listen to "Colors" instead

[N00bs]

Great album, no doubt. Solid review as usual. cant wait to see these guys live with Devin in Feb.

[About2Crash]

I definitely understand why anyone would like the album. But I know that 3 of my friends all bought it when it came out after being so pumped after colors and put it in. all of our faces turned sour at the same time and said "it'll get better...."

[Wigg]

Hey Crash, we already duked this out in another thread, but I have to have my say.

There is no where to go from the milestone of Colors and I think it's asking a bit much for them to better it. Explore drastically new territory? No I don't think they could do that either, their sound progressed to this point and they'll probably stay around about the same for their career.

So yes, it's not as good as Colors, but should it be bagged because of this? I think not. This album would be hailed as a triumph if it was by any other band.

Akh, I gotta go, I'll edit the post with more later.

[Missy]

I will really have to check out this band before we see them in February.

[About2Crash]

I think it should be added that on it's on, the album still has no pacing, weak riffs, and no structure whatsoever. The fact that it is a follow up to "Colors" is only extra. I would find the album a convoluted mess with great misdirection even if Colors never existed. After writing Colors they didn't need to make a better album, they just needed to make a good one. I don't think this is even that.

[N00bs]

Originally Posted by About2Crash

I think it should be added that on it's on, the album still has no pacing, weak riffs, and no structure whatsoever. The fact that it is a follow up to "Colors" is only extra. I would find the album a convoluted mess with great misdirection even if Colors never existed. After writing Colors they didn't need to make a better album, they just needed to make a good one. I don't think this is even that.

I disagree but to each their own.

[Oni]

These guys have come a ways, They are from the same city I live in (raleigh) and I used to hate them. saw their guitarist play with glass casket whom i also hated; this album in particular caught my attention though and helped me give them a second chance. huzzah.

[Iced]

I agree with Crash. The new album still sucks, despite the fact that it was a follow up to "Colors".

[Ryukin]

i like the drum sound on this album better than colors. and the drumming is possibly more insane than any btbam release in the past. this makes it worthwhile for me to listen to a couple of times. on the other hand the bass tone is inferior to colors in every way so i guess it evens out the rhythm section to just the same as usual.

i think some of the songs are really boring, but there are a couple that are actually quite good. i agree that it isnt the flowing masterpiece that colors was.

[About2Crash]

There are parts of the album, where if you listen to it song at a time then it is good. But a good album should be able to be played from song to song. So there are a couple decent songs, but there is no flow. Swim to the Moon may be a more pretentious song than anythign Dream Theater has ever tried.

[herrieman]

I think I will see them unprejudiced. I wait for February.

[Zee]

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this album either. BTBAM seems to have went off the deep end a little bit. Tech noodling has its place, but you gotta have the song to do it over. Theyre gettin it backwards on this one. Actually, it makes me want to listen to the Silent Circus more. Ignore all prejudices about core influences and its actualy one crazy well written album. BTBAM needs to look back and realize that the overall song is more important than a bunch of cool parts strung together

[Kris]

I haven't heard the whole album, but from what I've heard, I'd agree with Crash. It just sounded like a pointless remake of Colors to me. I'll still listen to the whole thing and see what I think after that, but I don't think it will change anything. Other than a few songs from Alaska (especially Selkies), Colors was probably the only thing I liked from this band.

[Kris]

Ok, I listened to the whole album, and while I still think it's Colors pt. 2, I really enjoyed it. They're not treading new ground or anything, but I would put it up there with Colors in terms of quality.

[About2Crash]

To each their own haha. This might be the most boring album I've heard all year. And I like Sunn 0))). haha

[Kris]

Well that was my initial thought on the album as a whole. Who knows, I may not like it as much after repeated listens. I will say that Colors is still golden after hearing it so many times! Haha, that and Selkies anyway. I really don't think that song belonged on Alaska at all.

[Wigg]

Here's to the one thing we all agree on:

[About2Crash]

Yes. Very much so.

[progesterone]

Actually BTBAM was quoted to have said that the Great Misdirect was going to "top Colors" so.. epic fail at that. Alaska and Colors were my favorites and I was expecting a lot off this album. It's not that it's bad, it just sounds like a mash up of discordant breakdowns and random riffs thrown in. It lacks flow, and doesn't really capture my attention. It's just kind of.. there. I saw them in chicago with cynic, devin townsend, and scale the summit last night. the songs from the new album were thrashed and moshed to, but you could definitely tell people preferred other albums more by how much they cheered for other songs.