BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME – The Great Misdirect is a Progressive Metal album that was released on October 26, 2009, on Victory Records. I received this CD as a Christmas gift from my wife and daughters, therefore, my first listen to The Great Misdirect was in the final days of last year. Metal truth be told, this is my very first Between The Buried And Me album that I have ever owned… or listened to. Stagnant, same-old, status quo and ho-hum are words that DO NOT describe The Great Misdirect. Heavy, progressive, semi-psychedelic, retrospective, layered and mind adventure are words THAT DO describe this dynamic album. As I listened intently to The Great Misdirect, I swear that this is a band that has taken a time machine from the mid 1970’s to present day… and they have been kidnapped and forced to create heavier music than they are used to, while still being able to incorporate their own style of Classic Rock into the structure of the songs. Call this thought nutty, call it science fiction, still, this is the type of mind wandering that Between The Buried And Me are all about with their lyrics anyways! It’s not just a fascination with this band being different that gets me… it’s the sheer fascination that this band is damned good at writing Heavy Progressive Music and playing it too.
Just by reading the lyrics to Fossil Genera – A Feed From Cloud Mountain, I realize that BTBAM’s vocalist Tommy Rogers is open minded and embraces the science fiction side of thought and conspiracy theories, (where his actual views stand on such topics, I do not know). Needless to say, just reading the lyrics found within the liner notes is an adventure. As goes Progressive Metal, the moment I sit back and chill to a lengthy interlude of mellow musical interplay, the quicker I have to sit up/get up to the heavy guitar riffs and leads, the bombastic rhythm section and/or the Extreme Metal vocals. (Pssst… I don’t mind it one Metal bit).
Yes, Grand Funk Railroad and any other Classic Rock band of legend should be proud of the astute usage of keyboards found within The Great Misdirect. Once again, Tommy Rogers is at the helm on the keys, raising such a familiar 1970’s sound that actually seems to resonate above the heaviness. Tommy Rogers also seems to go back and forth from extreme to traditional vocals rather effortlessly. As a unit, BTBAM are smart as they are talented with their playing, improvisation with this band in a live setting should never pose a problem.
Mirrors opens The Great Misdirect in a solemn, ultra mellow and quaint way. Lyrically, Mirrors exhibits a person who is without question, disassociated with the world around him/her… both people and things included. Ah, don’t let the opener of Mirrors fool you however, Obfuscation burrows right into my Metal soul… almost without warning, then subsides into a legitimate progressive pattern that BTBAM have indeed succeeded at. Metal Odyssey Note: Obfuscation means to be unclear, evasive or confusing. I actually had to look this word up, yeah, I did. Using a dictionary is cool.
Disease, Injury, Madness is over eleven minutes long, basically a Progressive Metal epic. Too bad this song wasn’t an hour long… it’s that good for me. As being an admirer of Mastodon, Daath, Dream Theater, Yes and The Electric Light Orchestra, my progressive Rock fan roots are as diverse as the Universe itself. Then again, when I think about it, isn’t the word diverse a major characteristic of Progressive Metal to begin with? Between The Buried And Me have recruited a NEW fan, I will gleefully dig into their back catalog without blinking a Metal eye.
Track Listing for The Great Misdirect:
Mirrors and Obfuscation – Metal Odyssey Note: (Mirrors plays out as an introduction to Obfuscation)
Disease, Injury, Madness
Swim To The Moon
Desert Of Song
Fossil Genera – A Feed from Cloud Mountain
Between The Buried And Me, as they appear on The Great Misdirect:
Tommy Rogers – vocals, keys and lyrics
Dan Briggs – bass, fretless bass
Dustie Waring – electric guitar, slide guitar, acoustic guitar and guitar effects
Paul Waggoner – electric guitar, steel string acoustic guitar, classical guitar and lap steel guitar
Blake Richardson – drums and percussion
I have come to the conclusion, that Progressive Metal and Progressive Hard Rock are the genres that keep me grounded. Dream Theater offers me the best of two worlds, like a one-two Metal punch… this band makes me want to Rock out, then again, I have many moments with their music when I want to chill, in a Metal sort of way. I am not at all stating that Dream Theater can be easy listening Progressive Music… no way. They offer the segues, interludes, intro’s and instrumentals that serve as that musical cushion to fall back on, while awaiting the heavy parts. This is what draws me into their music, to always expect the unexpected with the Progressive nature of Dream Theater. Dream Theater has for me, come so far, paid their Metal dues, to be now recognized as a Progressive Metal super power. It is difficult to dispute the vast landscape of progressive musical ingenuity that Dream Theater bestows. listening to their new music is a reminder to me, that you can erase any other thoughts in your mind and escape into an album of songs.
“A Rite Of Passage” is an amazing song, it reminds me of what maybe Rainbow would sound like, in 2009. The keyboards in this song is what has me thinking of vintage Rainbow, the melody also has a deep, rich, Classic Rock flavor. “A Nightmare To Remember”, the opening song, has all the dynamics I come to expect from Dream Theater, musically and lyrically. I am very glad the story line to this song has a happy ending, despite the child mentally reliving such a personal experience that is the referred nightmare. “Black Clouds & Silver Linings”, (released on June 23, 2009), has most certainly eclipsed my expectations of what to expect, both musically and lyrically. This new Dream Theater release deservedly reached #6 on the Billboard album charts on the initial week of it’s release. It is clear that new fans have embraced Dream Theater and all of their epic Progressive Metal.
You bet your Metal memory I picked up the new and live double CD “Flight 666” from Iron Maiden, (released June 9, 2009). How could I possibly pass it up? This is Iron Maiden we are talking about… Metal icons… Metal elite. I first saw this new Iron Maiden CD, yesterday, at f.y.e., they were asking $16.99… I knew I could do better than that. So, I went to good ol’ Super Walmart to pick up necessities, like… food, then my body was on automatic pilot and went straight to the CD aisles. Iron Maiden is a necessity in my Metal life, therefore, I purchased “Flight 666” along with various food items from Walmart. I embarked for my car, with my daughters by my side and I am one happy dude. The Walmart price? I paid $13.88 for “Flight 666”, if I continued to search for a cheaper price than that, I would be wasting gas in my tank. Plus, I was able to save $3.23… sounds like chump change, yet it adds up throughout the years when you shop around a tad. I am going to put the DVD version of “Flight 666” on my want list for now… I listen to Metal light years more often than I watch Metal.
Enslaved, from Norway, has created quite the exquisite Black Metal album with “Vertebrae”. Why do I use the adjective exquisite to describe this album? Well, I revere the Progressive Metal of Mastodon and Dream Theater, the legendary Progressive Rock of Pink Floyd and the groove infested Black Metal of Satyricon. Enslaved encompasses the most Metal and progressively delicious elements from these favorite bands of mine, while incorporating them into their very own startlingly, mind popping sound. What Enslaved has done here, is taken Rock and Metal influences to a new level, creating an album that embraces everything that is brilliant about Heavy and Progressive music. (I am not saying Enslaved actually looked to these bands for inspiration, this is just my musical and Metal interpretation and/or opinion). Enslaved has their roots in Black Metal, a musical track record that overflows with Metal bragging rights… “Vertebrae” by no means exemplifies this band as not being original. This album is as original as it gets… I cannot truly count how many Metal bands there are, that dare to experiment with music so valiantly.
Metal Odyssey > Heavy Metal Music Blog 
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