Paul Waggoner's ranking of the BTBAM Catalog

http://noisey.vice.com/blog/rank-your-records-between-the-buried-and-me

7. The Silent Circus
6. Between the Buried and Me
5. Alaska
4. The Great Misdirect
3. Colors
2. The Parallax II: Future Sequence
1. Coma Ecliptic

I don't think my personal rankings are that surprising to be a fair amount different. But just for the sake of comparison, here's mine


1. Colors


2. Alaska


3. The Silent Circus


4. Parallax I: Hypersleep Dialogues


5. Parallax II: Future Sequence



6. Between the Buried and Me


7a. The Great Misdirect


7b. Coma Ecliptic

Between the Buried and Me - The Parallax 2: Future Sequence (2012)

9/26/12 10:53AM
Video for Astral Body (no Embed again, LAME!)
http://www.altpress.com/aptv/video/video_premiere_between_the_buried_and_me_astral_body

here's what I wrote last week about it:


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. 


9/7/12 12:07AM

new trailer/making-of video and write-up.

Somewhat intriguing. Fucking lame that metalsucks doesn't include an Embed that I can tell/find.


7/23/12 11:53AM

preorder link



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.

7/17/12 10:49AM

http://metalblade.com/btbam

b-motuh story

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

Between the Buried and Me - The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues Mini-Album (2011) (2.0)

3/31/11 11:29PM

I know this a number of hours old as it was uploaded earlier today. But I didn't get home until a little while ago to see. I have no real take on it right now given I haven't listened to it, namely with headphones. But in due time hopefully.

one streaming option, or another of course:










2/28/11 5:11PM



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

a 6+ minute sample is linked from the 1st track.

myspace blog

            BTBAM TO RELEASE “THE PARALLAX: HYPERSLEEP DIALOGUES” ON APRIL 12

BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME TO RELEASE “THE PARALLAX: HYPERSLEEP DIALOGUES” ON APRIL 12


CRITICALLY REVERED NORTH CAROLINA BAND ANNOUNCES NORTH AMERICAN HEADLINING TOUR


Globally celebrated progressive rock / cutting-edge metal innovators BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME (aka BTBAM) will release its new album The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues on April 12, 2011 via Metal Blade Records. The three-song strong, 30 minute tour de force was recorded at Canada's Metalworks Studios and Rattlebox Studios and produced / engineered by the Grammy award–winning David Bottrill (Tool, Muse, King Crimson, Dream Theater, etc.) with BTBAM.


The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues represents BTBAM’s musical and conceptual masterwork; the record showcases both the quintet’s vivid execution and ambitious vision. The otherworldly conceptual thread linking each of the songs is mobilized around two human characters that live in different planes of existence and are separated by millions of light years, each confronted with similar personal issues. Subsequently, both characters make decisions that will change their lives, and perhaps the course of the universe, forever. Musically, the release presents aura-rich atmospheres rife with roaring volumes, corrugated rhythms and trance-inducing intricacies. Cerebral and visceral, soft and heavy, melodic and abrasive, tender and brutal, familiar and strange and taut yet sprawling and epic, BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME has crafted a sound that is musically sophisticated yet primal and a disc where every new passage leads to the culmination of an epic adventure.


Track listing:


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


The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues’ celestial cover art can be viewed at at this location.


A special landing page for the release has been designed and hosts a six minute edit of the new BTBAM song “Specular Reflection”. The hub, which also allows fans to pre-order The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues is now live at this location.


Immediately upon the release of The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues, BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME will kick off a full-scale North American headlining tour. Presented by Peter Says Denim in association with Guitar World and MetalSucks.net, the tour will launch on April 15 and feature support from special guests Job For A Cowboy, The Ocean and Cephalic Carnage (on select dates). Tickets are on sale now at this location. The official BTBAM spring tour admat is available for viewing at this location. and will feature the following live dates:


Peter Says Denim Presents BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME In association with Guitar World & MetalSucks.net
With Job For A Cowboy, The Ocean & Cephalic Carnage (*on select dates)
Brought to you by PRS Guitars, Metal Blade Records, Good Fight Entertainment & ACTION! PR


* = support from Job For A Cowboy and The Ocean
+ = support from Job For A Cowboy, The Ocean and Cephalic Carnage


April 15 Farmingdale, NY The Crazy Donkey *
April 16 Worcester, MA The Palladium (as part of New England Metal & Hardcore Fest)
April 17 Lancaster, PA Chameleon Club *
April 18 Pittsburgh, PA Altar Bar *
April 19 Williamsville, NY Club Infinity *
April 20 Montreal, QC Le National *
April 21 Toronto, ONT Opera House *
April 22 Toledo, OH Headliner’s *
April 23 Pontiac, MI The Crofoot Ballroom *
April 25 Milwaukee, WI Eagles Ballroom *
April 26 Lawrence, KS Granada Theatre *
April 27 Denver, CO Summit Music Hall +
April 29 Vancouver, BC Rickshaw Theatre *
April 30 Seattle, WA El Corazon +
May 1 Portland, OR Hawthorne Theatre +
May 3 Sacramento, CA Ace of Spades +
May 4 San Francisco, CA Slim’s +
May 5 Pomona, CA Glasshouse Music Hall +
May 6 San Diego, CA Soma +
May 7 Mesa, AZ Nile Theatre +
May 9 Dallas, TX The Door *
May 10 Tulsa, OK The Marquee *
May 11 Memphis, TN New Daisy Theatre *
May 12 Atlanta, GA The Masquerade *
May 13 Nashville, TN Rocketown *
May 14 Asheville, NC The Orange Peel *

2/21/11 2:01PM


some stuff was posted here hence the "2.0."

I have no clue what this video has/sounds like since I'm at work right now. But I'm sure some edits/bumps could happen soon and of course when the details of this thing are posted. But as the video says, it's being released on April 12th, 2011. An early 2nd quarter release.

Interesting title fwiw.

edit: here's a few write ups. Both announcing them signing to Metal Blade Records.

Metal Blade Bio

Between the Buried and Me's storied career began back in the year 2000. Since their inception, they've released six full length albums and one live album: Between the Buried and Me (2002, Lifeforce), The Silent Circus (2003, Victory), Alaska (2005, Victory), The Anatomy Of (2006, Victory), Colors (2007, Victory), Colors Live (2008, Victory), The Great Misdirect (2009, Victory). Between the Buried and Me (BTBAM) has thrived both with their albums and through their engaging and unparalleled live show. BTBAM challenges listeners with their ever-evolving musical style, juxtaposed compositions, ultra-long songs, and deep lyrical concepts, as opposed to giving in to the lowest common denominator to try and expand their fan base. This has resulted in a fanatically loyal following and albums that consistently make it onto the myriad of top 10 lists in any year BTBAM releases an album.

The next step in BTBAM's musical journey involves a new label home in Metal Blade Records and another trek into boundary and genre defying song-writing that is their new album, The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues.

The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues serves as the first installment of a two-part story. Hypersleep introduces two human characters who live in different planes of existence, separated by millions of light years. We find that each of them is confronted with similar personal issues that they need to reckon with. Both characters make decisions that will change their lives, and perhaps the course of the universe, forever. The follow up album will pick up the story with our two main characters, with the help of near light speed travel, meeting each other and realizing together their purpose in the universe.

Musically, it sounds like Between the Buried and Me. Hypersleep has elements of aggression, beauty, quirkiness, and pure cacophony. Vocalist Tommy Rogers adds, "For Hypersleep, we establish several themes which I'm sure will be revisited in the next album, which is something we really look forward to. We love to expand on simple ideas and see where they take us."

Between the Buried and Me will support The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues with headlining North American tour dates in the Spring of 2011.

press release they posted on facebook

NEXT CHAPTER IN AWARD-WINNING BAND's STORIED CAREER SET TO UNFOLD

Celebrated progressive rock / cutting-edge metal band BETWEEN THE BURIED AN ME (also BTBAM) has inked a worldwide recording deal with Metal Blade Records. The award-winning North Carolina quintet will kick off the partnership with the April release of its new album The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues.

"We are delighted in the opportunity to join the Metal Blade family," commented BTBAM guitarist Paul Waggoner. "Their commitment to heavy music over the years is inspiring and we look forward to becoming a part of the ever-growing legacy of the label. Our new release, titled "The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues" will hit the streets in April. We are confident that our dedicated fans will appreciate it and hopeful that we will gain the attention of some new ears as well. In closing, I'd like to reference a quote from the illustrious Joe Dirt: "Life's a garden, dig it."

Further details on The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues will be made available soon. The LP will contain the first new music from BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME since the release of 2009's The Great Misdirect, which landed at #36 on the Billboard Top 200 in its first week of release. BTBAM supported the album with a full scale North American headlining tourand live dates across Europe, Australia and Japan as well as a U.S. tour as hand-picked support for like-minded rockers Mastodon.

Check out a teaser HERE.

About BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME:

Merging unparalleled musical bravery, prodigious musicianship, flawless execution and an angular landscape of forward thinking ideas, BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME reinvent the rock 'n roll idiom while pleasing their harshest critics: themselves. Joining metal's dexterity and progressive rock's psychedelic, multi-layered experimentation, BTBAM (whose name was inspired by a line of lyrics from the Counting Crows song "Ghost Train") create spine-tingling sound that contains visceral power, labyrinthine arrangement, mind-boggling melody and majestic beauty. The band has released five full-length LPs since its formation in 2000 including Between the Buried and Me (2002), The Silent Circus (2003), Alaska (2005), The Anatomy Of (2006), Colors (2007) and 2009's critically acclaimed The Great Misdirect. The group has showcased its live prowess via a slew of world headlining tours and has participated in major touring festivals including Ozzfest and the Radio Rebellion and Progressive Nation tours. Since its inception, BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME has sold nearly one half million records and proven itself as a progressive rock pacesetter whose modernist clang pegs it as a paradigm to be followed and a yardstick by which other bands are measured.

In addition to Waggoner, BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME features Tommy Rogers (vocals / keyboards), Dustie Waring (guitar), Blake Richardson (drums / percussion) and Dan Briggs (bass).

"daring, eclectic, and dizzying…serpentine guitar heroics…brilliance" - THE ONION

"Inspired equaly by Yes, Dream Theater and Dillinger Escape Plan, the North Carolina extreme-prog band Between the Buried and Me think nothing of combining furious death metal rhythms and complex math metal licks with neoclassical leads and airy, atmospheric interludes." – GUITAR WORLD

"This North Carolina quintet has made a career out of stirring prog, emo, jazz, electronics, and what-have-you into the metal pot...diverse would be an understatement" - STYLUS

"Between the Buried and Me have evolved into a progressive band in the truest sense of the word, an alchemic group who concoct innovative, multi-genre fusions rather than a metal outfit with experimental pretensions." – ALTERNATIVE PRESS

"Nearly 10 years and six albums in, these guys are still at the forefront…the main reason: their sheer musical talent. If you ever wondered what Dream Theater's prog-metal might sound like if they had been raised on Dillinger Escape Plan and Metallica rather than Deep Purple and Iron Butterfly, Between the Buried and Me have the answer…a jaw-dropping and cathartic sound that few bands can even manage." - CLEVELAND SCENE

http://www.myspace.com/betweentheburiedandme
http://www.facebook.com/BTBAMofficial
http://twitter.com/btbamofficial
http://www.youtube.com/btbamofficial

"It's a half hour of music...call it what you like! glad people are as stoked about this signing as we are." 

another quote from the band about it.

Okay, well I just am going to go with a couple of things. It's 30 minutes of music. Sometimes that length, or shorter is regarded as a full-length. But as evidenced by that previous entry with many videos and a few interviews, they were working on AN EXTENDED PLAY RELEASE aka an "EP."

Typically a shorter length record. And for these guys, a 30 minute album frankly, is MUCH shorter than they typically make.

It's really just semantics I suppose, but I and this blog, until it's truthfully put into stone, am still going with this being an EP, and not a full-length. Maybe the ole "Mini-album" category makes the most sense as a compromise.

And the fact is, one of the more recent quotes mentioned the band also working on another release for later in the year. So unless they are doing a System of a Down's Mesmerize/Hypnotize, Devin Townsend or Omar Rodriguez-Lopez kind of multiple-albums-the-same-year kind of thing (although back in the 60's and early 70's, bands might release an album every 6 months, but most of those albums only were 25-40 minutes long), odds are the next one will be longer and actually be considered a full-length and closer to the length LP they have released in the past.

But another thing about this news, with Metal Blade. I don't hate them, and they've been the label for many bands I enjoy/have enjoyed over the years. But the folks cheering hooray for the fact BTBAM signed with them might want to be aware of what kind of label they are. I just consider what so many of the bands on their label ended up doing. Most recently with 3. Sure, they did resign 3, but I can't forget how little promotion 3's last album received from Metal Blade.

Maybe some of that had to do with the fact Metal Blade knew 3 had signed with Road Runner even before it came out, but I was not all that impressed by their promotion of Revisions. 3 had that great momentum off the 2 Porcupine Tree tours and Progressive Nation, you'd think they would have reaped more benefits from that, but I look at the lack of help from Metal Blade as part of why they didn't entirely. But I suppose how much and how well their next album does, again via Metal Blade, may get a more accurate idea of how good of a job Metal Blade is doing for them and other artists.

And for BTBAM, Victory Records was pretty terrible. So, comparably, Metal Blade won't have to do a lot to improve upon their work. At least they likely won't get lumped in with so many of those scenester/'core bands on that label anymore. I guess we'll see. And it should be interesting to hear this record along with the next part of it that Tommy mentions in that bio.