Between the Buried and Me - Coma Ecliptic

What's up? I'm coming with some prog for you.

Between the Buried and Me's "Coma Ecliptic"

Now I know what you're thinking, "It's BTBAM! It's fucking great!" Yeah alright sure, you probably think I'm going to verbally blow them with this review but honestly this album doesn't grab me at all. I've listened to them when "Aspirations" and "Naked by the Computer" were the bangers. I'm not saying it didn't grab my attention because it wasn't heavy either. Being heavy is one thing but Between the Buried and Me aren't super heavy, they're great musicians.

One thing that has bothered me about their albums after "Colors" they all kind of follow a formula. But "The Great Misdirect" is my favorite album. Again, not really super heavy. But I feel like ever since Mike Portnoy showed them love the band just tries to stay in the same place. Just merely changing and adapting the songs a little but following similar formulas.

So when I read what Dan Briggs had to say about the album saying it drew influence from The Who’s Quadrophenia and The Wall by Pink Floyd, I was really wondering how they were trying to accomplish their "Rock Opera" goal. But as I listen through the album I don't see the connections and I don't feel the music "working together". If anything Parallax 1 & 2 were excellent in achieving these points. Parallax 1 was the set up, Parallax 2 gave you the entire picture and kept reoccurring musical themes and phrases. Though slightly different and morphed these melodies gave you the sense of the connection, the feeling that all this music was telling you a story beyond words.

I mean there's a lot for the album to offer but it never keeps me intrigued. I'd suggest Dream Theater's "Scenes from A Memory" if you want a great recent rock opera.

Hear the album for yourself here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9S4_4A2Ei0o

Buy ALL of BTBAM's merch here: http://www.merchconnectioninc.com/collections/between-the-buried-and-me

Get ALL the info you need at: http://www.betweentheburiedandme.com/