Review Summary: The Great Misdirect is Between The Buried And Me at their finest.
Between The Buried And Me, a mix of Slayer and Peter Gabriel era Genesis. Or at least according to the front of The Great Misdirect sleeve. Although some may agree I see no slayer and very little evidence of any Genesis influence. Instead, I see a band that has done nothing but progressed since their first album which was released in 2002. Listening to this record it is very hard to believe this band once played metalcore. This album continues the progressive style that was present in Colors but makes it a hell of a lot more relevant with The Great Misdirect. Between The Buried And Me have really upped the ante as far as musicianship. There are some riffs and solos that could easily be compared to Progressive Metal giants Dream Theater. Between The Buried And Me have also improved on the songwriting as well.
One thing that is prominent with this release is the fact that this album runs over 55 minutes and only has 6 songs. The average song length on this record is around 9 minutes. There is even a song that clocks in at over 17 minutes. This record will definably take a few listens to digest. So if you are turned off the first listen, give it another spin. Colors was the same way for me personally. Lyrically or musically there is no concept as there was on Colors. This record is also a lot more experimental than Colors which makes this album a lot more experimental and progressive in nature.
Another thing that has improved vastly is Tommy Rogers. Tommy's voice is an issue for many who are trying to get into the band. That pretty much means his vocals are pretty black and white. No true gray. Either you like them or you don't. Most can agree that his vocals have improved from the style that was present on the Self-Titled release and The Silent Circus. There are some great moments like the heavier parts of Fossil Genera. Tommy's clean vocals have also improved. Tommy has also made his keyboards more alive in the mix. Tommy even has an organ solo on Swim To The Moon as well as a synth solo which he plays with his feet (As seen on the BTBAM TGM bonus DVD)
The rhythm section is tighter than ever on The Great Misdirect. Although there is no Viridian, Dan does have a solo on Mirrors and a solo on Disease, Injury, Madness. Each are very impressive. Dan also brought in a fretless bass for the solo on mirrors as well as an Ebow. As far as Blake is concerned, he still plays blast beats, breakdowns....ect just not as frequent this time around. As mentioned before, this record has little hardcore influence when set aside the Self-Titled album, The Silent Circus, and Alaska. There are parts on this album where you can hear Mike Portnoy in Blake's drum parts. There are also jazzier parts like on Mirrors. Plus there are Tubular Bells on Fossil Genera.
The guitars are standard BTBAM guitars. One thing that really stood out for me was that Paul has put a little more effort in the heavier parts than he has in the past. He has also brought in some toys like hollow body guitars, classical guitars, and slide guitars. Dustie still from my knowledge plays mostly rhythm guitars which the exception of a solo on Swim To The Moon and the harmonized solos.
All and All, The Great Misdirect is Between The Buried And Me at their finest.
Just keep and open mind when listening to this album. More than likely this album will a few listens to fully digest. The only Cons to this album just relate to the fact that this album is even harder to grasp than Colors was which will definably leave out some fans of the older BTBAM sound. Other than that this album is pretty much perfect for me.
-This is my first review so any constructive feedback or tips would be appreciated -
