Uh, kind of more of the same feeling. Not going crazy over it, but will certainly hope to like it more within the album. 5/14/15 5:35AM
2nd single "The Coma Machine"..the video lends some mystery or to the concept of course per the title and the whole being in a coma idea. Musically? kind of vanilla for them. I mean there's a few nice moments, and on the record per just this long of a video (nearly 9 minutes), I may get more into this.
I guess I'm just paying attention with not incredibly high expectations. Wanting them to shock me or expect something dramatically cool or new, remains in the past.
Some comments mention Queen on this track, I don't exactly hear it. Perhaps in subtle spots I guess. 4/3/15 12:10PM
1st single "Memory Palace"..9 minutes and 56 seconds; not necessarily an excessive length, for these guys, but I guess I do agree overall with some of the comments about this
a) sounding like Dream Theater, maybe a little too much
b) simply, lacking those great moments, and seeming to have some of the prog/prog metal cliches.
Some of the talk about this album in interviews is it's supposed to be a lot different and weird(er) and also being an Opera or something.
I guess as I've said, I don't have enormous expectations for these guys, and this 1st track/single doesn't really change that all that much.
But, it is only the 1st track at least.
3/17/15 12:06PM
Not a ton to say about this other than I will of course check this out, and it's too bad their upcoming tour isn't coming to Minneapolis (although even if it was, I wonder/worry it would be at Mill City Nights anyway).
Parallax II, from 2012 I liked a lot of, but I still think suffered from some of what The Great Misdirect did in lacking flow and a lot of unnecessary extended sections. But I also recall concluding that is who BTBAM are now and I don't really expect another Colors or Alaska really at this point. But if it happens, I'll be all the happier. I'm still a fan regardless.
More edits and bumps when the details are made public of course.
"We are excited to announce the Coma Ecliptic tour named after our forthcoming new album! Our tour will feature Animals As Leaders and The Contortionist. VIP Packages are on-sale now at: showstubs.com/btbam Coma Ecliptic will be released via Metal Blade Records July 7th! More about our new album: "Once again, the band has returned with an ambitious concept album. This time, the story follows the wanderings of an unidentified man, stuck in a coma, as he journeys through his past lives. Each song is its own episode in a modern day, sort of The Twilight Zone-esque fashion. The unidentified man enters each world and is offered a choice: stay, or move on to the next in search of something better, something more "perfect." Vocalist / keyboardist Tommy Rogers spoke with Revolver Magazine for their upcoming issue, which will be on newsstands everywhere March 31st. Pick up the magazine for an exclusive first look at the album's recording process and concept. New music and pre-orders bundles will be launched on April 3rd, 2015." "
I listened to it twice, some nice moments, but I'm afraid the band have become a bit too focused on the excessive rather than the concise. It's not bad, but I'm not sure if it's that much better than The Great Misdirect which I was highly disappointed in. The 15 minute epic towards the end "Silent Flight Parliament" does work well, along with a couple of other tracks. But I'd be surprised if I get attached to it enough for it to even make my top 10 for the year. But maybe it'll grow with a little time.
01. Goodbye to Everything
02. Astral Body
03. Lay Your Ghosts to Rest
04. Autumn
05. Extremophile Elite
06. Parallax
07. The Black Box
08. Telos
09. Bloom
10. Melting City
11. Silent Flight Parliament
12. Goodbye to Everything Reprise
I can't hear it yet since I'm at work. I'm on the fence about preordering given many Preorders don't ship in time.
Drop date is October 9th. It says there it clocks in around 72 minutes; that may not be a good thing (see The Great Misdirect).
But it really should depend on how well-written the album and songs are. Stressing the words "written" and "songs."
Also mix/production and flow. I do enjoy The Parallax EP from last year, but at the same time, I'm not sure over time, how well it will compare in their catalog. Perhaps how well this turns out, could impact that.
Progressive rock/cutting-edge metal innovators BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME have set "The Parallax II: Future Sequence" as the title of their new full-length album. The CD, which clocks in at approximately 72 minutes, will be released October 9 and features artwork from Charlotte, North Carolina artist and designer Chandler Owen (UNDEROATH, SHAI HULUD, HOPESFALL). The group — Tommy Rogers (vocals / keyboards), Paul Waggoner (guitar), Dustie Waring (guitar), Blake Richardson (drums / percussion) Dan Briggs (bass) — is currently preparing for its direct support slot on the Summer Slaughter tour that kicks off in Los Angeles, California at the House of Blues on Friday, July 20.
"The Parallax II: Future Sequence" was recorded at The Basement Studios in Winston-Salem, North Carolina with longtime friend of the band and producer Jamie King. Jamie engineered, mixed and mastered "The Parallax II: Future Sequence", which makes this the sixth release Jamie and BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME have worked together on.
Regarding the concept of "The Parallax II: Future Sequence", the new full-length album picks up where the 2011 EP, "The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues", left off.
"The two main characters of the story take on a journey through space and time with the unenviable task of having to cure the flaws of humanity by any means necessary," comments guitarist Paul Waggoner. "While the EP served mostly as an introduction to the characters, 'Future Sequence' contains the action of the story. The lyrics are written in the stream of consciousness style, which really helps to capture the perspective and emotion of the characters. We really enjoyed the challenge of writing this record, and I think we were all pleasantly surprised with how well the music and lyrics jived with one another. I couldn't be happier with how 'Future Sequence' turned out."
Vocalist and keyboardist Tommy Rogers adds his thoughts on the musical direction of "The Parallax II: Future Sequence": "This album is BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME on steroids. I feel like we have created an album that perfectly mirrors the band we've been trying to create since day one. An album that has sounds that will stimulate many genres and music fans alike. A conceptual journey that takes the listener to worlds that seem familiar and worlds that make you scratch your head. From start to finish this is music we want to create, not music we think people want us to create. We create songs that keep us (and hopefully you) excited about heavy music. Keep listening… something new will be there each time. Enjoy the music… we enjoyed writing it."
"The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues" (released in April 2011) is a three-song strong, 30-minute tour de force of modern heavy music. Produced and engineered by the Grammy award–winning David Bottrill (TOOL, MUSE, KING CRIMSON, DREAM THEATER) with BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME, the record soared to No. 54 on The Billboard 200 chart in its first week of release while landing the No. 5 spot on the Hard Music chart, and No. 8 on the Independent Albums chart in its first week of release. "The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues" also debuted in Canada charting at Mo. 62 on the Top 200 Current chart, No. 6 on the Hard chart, and No. 14 on the Independent chart.
07/16 Sauget, IL @ Pops w/ Periphery, Job For a Cowboy 07/18 Farmington, NM @ Top Deck w/ Periphery, Job For a Cowboy
The Summer Slaughter Tour w/ Cannibal Corpse, The Faceless, Periphery, Veil Of Maya, Job for a Cowboy, Goatwhore, Exhumed, and Cerebral Bore
07/20 Los Angeles, CA @ House of Blues
07/21 San Diego, CA @ SOMA
07/22 Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues
07/23 Scottsdale, AZ @ Venue of Scottsdale
07/25 Dallas, TX @ House of Blues
07/26 San Antonio, TX @ White Rabbit
07/27 Mission, TX @ Pharr Events Center
07/28 Houston, TX @ House of Blues
07/30 Tampa, FL @ The Ritz
07/31 Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution
08/01 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
08/02 Knoxville, TN @ The Valarium
08/03 Charlotte, NC @ Amos Southend
08/04 Richmond, VA @ The National
08/05 Philadelphia, PA @ The Trocadero
08/07 Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom
08/08 New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
08/09 Albany, NY @ Northern Lights
08/10 Worcester, MA @ The Palladium
08/11 Montreal, QC @ Heavy MTL
08/12 Toronto, ON @ Heavy TO
08/14 Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues
08/15 Detroit, MI @ St. Andrew’s
08/16 Chicago, IL @ House Blues
08/17 Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave
08/18 Louisville, KY @ Expo Five *No Cannibal Corpse
08/20 Denver, CO @ Summit Music Hall
08/22 Seattle, WA @ Showbox SODO
08/23 Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
08/24 San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
08/25 Anaheim, CA @ The Grove
08/27 Tucson, AZ @ The Rock w/ Periphery, Job For a Cowboy
08/29 Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom w/ Periphery, Job For a Cowboy
08/30 Springfield, MO @ Remington’s w/ Periphery, Job For a Cowboy
