Review Summary: Between The Buried And Me use all their influences and skill to create this monster of a album which has classic written all over it.
"COLORS"
While bands now a days get more and more generic with each album they release, Between The Buried And Me (BTBAM) has been in a separate category. While people believe that bands like Taking Back Sunday, and The Warriors (while in two totally different genres) seem to have lost their talent as they progressed. BTBAM seem to take a step foward in every album they release. Their self titled release was great. Then "The Silent Circus" took melodic metal(core) to new heights. "Alaska" showed off more the musicianship and originality a little more. And now enter "Colors." BTBAM's latest release.
To tell you the truth, when this album hit store shelves, I didn't think to pick it up. Don't get me wrong I'm a huge fan of BTBAM and i was excited to hear it. I didn't even listen to the songs on their myspace, becuase I knew i wanted to hear the whole album as one piece. Just yesterday I bought the album, and I wish i bought it the first day it had been released. Every song on this album is just as amazing as the last. In fact the entire album is essentially one song broken up into chapters. Sure there is only 8 songs on "Colors." But it is about 65 minutes long. The longest track clocking in at 14:13. This album is not a "fantastic follow up to a outstanding record." Call me crazy, neg me even, but "Colors" is a work of genius. A true Masterpiece. A modern classic.
When someone calls an album classic, odds are someone will say "That album is not a classic, because it is not flawless!" Sure this album is not flawless. But neither are other records that have been deemed "Classic." It just seems like there are no original bands, and no one will ever be as classic as say, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, or Queen. However "Colors" combines the influences of these past legends and mixes them with modern metal to create a progressive/jazz/melodic metal masterpiece. Out of all the albums released in recent years "Colors" would be at the top of the charts. It's rare to see a modern band, especially in a genre in which most individuals think of as "Noise! No talent at all!" create a piece of work so epic, and memorable that it can be deemed a "Classic."
Normally, I don't like Track by Track reviews. But in this case I think it is needed. Just because each song has it's own memorable moments that make this album a whole. The first track Foam Born:
(A) The Backtrack is such a beautiful and moving introduction to the album. Starting off with a soft piano and some heaven like vocals, it slowly gets heavier, and heavier until the guitars go out of control (in the most organized way possible) and Tommy Rogers growling comes into to play and flawlessly flows into
The Decade Of Statues. Probably the song on this record that sounds the most like BTBAM's older material. Nothing to technical in here, some catchy guitar riffs and harmonics add to not only the attractiveness of the song, but the brutality as well. This song is high energy, and speed at 100% and does not let up for a second.
Informal Gluttony starts off differently than any song that I've heard that wasn't in a National Geographic special. Starting off with an Egyptian march like drum beat with the occasional background chant. at 0:49 the guitar chimes in playing a riff to the beat of the Egyptian like drums. With the bass noticeably audible in the background it gives you a epic sensation of what is to come. It continues into some metal riffs while still keeping the influence of the beginning of the song. The "chorus" of the song has a gentle guitar pattern with some light drumming with the soft singing of the lyrics: "Feed me fear..." then entering back into the heaviness that the album revolves around giving you the progression of what BTBAM has been experimenting with throughout their career. The song begins to get distorted and fades out into a drum fill, transitioning perfectly into
Sun Of Nothing which begins with the drum fill and then into a blast beat. For the first few minutes it is organized chaos. Then comes a melodic riff which slowly transitions the two parts of this song. After getting slower and slower the music cuts out. All you're left with is a slow guitar part slicing through the silence, and another heavenly voice singing: "I'm floating towards the sun. The sun of nothing." it slower picks up more and more speed before getting heavy again to make the transition to the next chapter in the story.
Enter
Ants Of The Sky one of the best songs on the record. Probably the most melodic song on the album the song starts off with some heavy riffs, but the lead guitar is to busy moving up and down scales at lighting speeds. Just listening to this epic 13 minute song will give your arthritis. Out of nowhere the music fades and a piano enters in to start off a melody. After the rest of the instruments join back in your jaw will drop by just how melodic the guitars are in this part. After that a simple riff is played and a synth joins in to give it a more poppier sound that usual. At about 7 minutes of this song, it doesn't even get old. There are too many breakdowns, and memorable riffs and solos to get tired of it. Even when it's just full on metal you have something to head bang too, and to all your drummers out there you can just play your air drums and pretend to do some of the great fills that are in this song. It does eventually get slower, with some nice vocal work. Towards the end there is a very nice jazz guitar solo which while not groundbreaking is catchy to say the least. Then what is that you hear? It's a country hoedown. I'm serious. An acoustic guitar comes out of left field and starts playing some good old country music. Yes it sounds out of place. But it fits very well, after some more melodic scales come into play. Then comes
Prequel To The Sequel which is yet another epic song (what isn't on this record) and relationship between the band members has never been stronger. Every single instrument fits perfectly with each other, and flows so well. The vocals are harsh as they should be for this beast of a song. The heaviest breakdown on the album is on this song. This song is a true shredder as they pay tribute to more modern metal bands that other songs. Just like the country breakdown, out of left field comes a polka breakdown. Feeling more out of place since the vocals remind me much of Marilyn Manson, but after that some chants occur and the song gets stronger and stronger before fading into one of the best songs on the album.
Viridian is the true highlight of the album. No vocals. Just instrumental. However, the interesting part of this song is the the guitars and drum are not highlighted. It is the bass. The bass solo is so insane you'd believe it was a guitar. Note after note, after note is hit on this bass so fast your head will spin. This song is so soothing, my mom listens to it in the car (my mom hates all things metal) and while this is one of the shortest songs on the album it is truly classic material.
Here it comes. Can you feel it? The climax. The finale. The end. Never since Converge's "Jane Doe" has a closing track been so strong.
White Walls is a beast of a track clocking in at 14:13, the energy and musicianship is non-stop as note after note just kicks you in the face. The guitars, perfect. The drums, outstanding. The bass, flawless. The vocals, rough. Just the way they like them. While one guitar kicks out gut busting licks and riffs, the other churns out melodic scales. The breakdowns are so heavy, that you might have trouble hearing after they are over. The tempo changes so much throughout the song, it'll go from kick your ass heavy, to lay back and relax mellow. The song slows down where it builds up to back into beat your to a pulp heavy, and you can tell the ending is going to be epic. Two different guitars playing in two different octaves are you just pummeling you down, again, and again, with the lyrics: "This is all we have when we die. It's what's left of us when we die. We will be remembered for this. White wall." With still a breakdown yet to come, they bring "da mosh" one last time before entering one crazy technical guitar solo. The solo is so long and intense it will urge a 40 year old IRS Tax representative to rekindle his old dreams of being a rock star. As the song begins to fade we hear a piano come in one last time. The last note sustaining for the last 10 seconds of the song.
5 / 5 CLASSIC
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