Long running Progressive Death/Metalcore stalwarts issue their first Metal Blade Records release, a 30 minute EP of three new songs continuing much what they’ve done with the preceding three releases. BTBAM (as they’re commonly and respectfully acronymed) have now left Victory Records, a label they haven’t fit on for a long time really, since maybe their first album, a space in time long ago where they were coined Metalcore. In fact if there is one band that has shed the Metalcore label and is worth checking out regardless of that starting point, it is Between the Buried and Me. Even calling them Metalcore is something I loathe to do because it just doesn’t fit. Would you call Anathema a Doom band? Or Primordial a Black Metal band? No. And BTBAM are not a Metalcore band. If anything they’re like a whacked out Jazzy Zappa-ish Progressive Death Metal outfit with intent to obliterate whatever box people try to put them in.

The first track “Specular Reflection” starts with a cinematic, oddly varying piano intro that quickly gives break to an abrasive, semi-melodic, progressive riffing that eventually drops down to a spacey, mellow brief interlude of clean picking. Then just as quickly they slip into a short, almost non-existent chorus, a soft little verse or two that spins along breaking back to harsh shouted vox and then clean chanting. This gets sidetracked then by some more spacey, floating, soft soundscapes that build from a slow burn to an intense, pounding, fast-paced climax that is over too soon, but they do that a lot. They can be described as spastic, showy, bizarre, grinding, technical, and eccentric. But make no mistake, they’re technically proficient and able to play a landslide of styles and change at the drop of a dime as good as or better than anyone on the planet.

Typically at their worst they’re a band trying to cram a seven course meal into a Ziploc sandwich baggie. At their best typically, they’re an exotic sports car with all the options and bells and whistles that draw your attention and admiration. With The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogue we have something right in between those two spectrums. While they haven’t missed a beat with their Metal Blade debut, they haven’t blown the doors off either. It’s simply a fairly safe, short, by the numbers little EP that should tide fans over till their next opus and maybe even gain some new listeners with the new label. As an intro to the band, the EP serves its purpose I suppose. But compared to incredibly dynamic and masterfully done releases like Colors or Alaska, or even their latest full length: 2009’s The Great Misdirection, it comes up just short.

TRACK LISTING

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*Comments:

1.  Specular Reflection
2.  Augment of Rebirth
3.  Lunar Wilderness

Total playing time:  30:02

Release Date: April 12, 2011
Label: Metal Blade Records

Between The Buried And Me - The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues

Reviewer: Greg

May 22, 2011