Between the Buried and Me
Coma Ecliptic

Between The Buried And Me is a band that, while based on extreme metal, has always had progressive influences. However, with the seventh studio album, prog rock is truly at the forefront, with keyboards and especially a concept album based on the imaginary journey of a person in a coma. Not a new idea (do you remember Ayreon's "The Human Equation"?), but it worked wonderfully.

The album begins with the introductory track "Node", a three and a half minute piece with just piano and vocals by Tommy Giles Rogers.

The much longer "The Coma Machine" already reveals the band's typical style, with sudden tempo changes (without 30-minute solos or anything like that, given that the album is already over an hour long) and melodic moments alternating with aggressive ones (although they are by no means a metalcore boy band!).

"Dim Ignition" is a short track made special by a synth. In the more extreme "Famine Wolf," we find the first growls and even parts with simultaneous growl and "clean" vocals (although obviously not executable by the sole singer live without playback). The indescribable ending of the track is commendable.

King Redeem/Queen Serene starts with an acoustic melody, but after an oriental folk guitar riff, it explodes into a grindcore that seems to come from the album "Colors," with growls interspersed with crazy vocals, akin to Protest The Hero.

"Turn on the Darkness" is characterized by an elegant Dream Theater-like guitar solo from the Awake/A Change of Seasons era and the vocal contribution of the band's lead guitarist Paul Waggoner. Dark sounds close Turn on Darkness but a punk-leaning hard rock opens "The Ectopic Stroll," which continues to touch on different genres, from psychedelic music to mathcore, a bit of growl, and then a brief romantic solo, up to a regenerated chaotic prog metal.

"Rapid Calm": the oxymoron in the title ("Rapid Calm") summarizes the song: it alternates between ambient music suitable for an operating room and technical death metal.

"Memory Palace" is probably the best composition of the album, which in 10 minutes has it all: math rock, punk, prog, heavy psych, and hard rock.

The album concludes with "Option Oblivion" and "Life in Velvet," with minimalist piano in the first two minutes and, in the next two, a heart-wrenching electric guitar solo, a bit of melodic singing, four growls and... the end.

Thus ends a fantastic album by a group that, although already established in the neo-progressive world, has surpassed itself this time: I'm not saying it's an absolute novelty in terms of sound, but all the genres loved by the 5 musicians (by the way, a necessary mention of the lineup: T.G. Rogers vocalist and pianist, P. Waggoner and D. Waring on guitars, D. Briggs on bass and synthesizer, B. Richardson on drums) come together correctly. Absent are overly syrupy or excessively technical moments, but neither are there any senseless ones.