AUTOMATA II

Well the first part was a little rough, but part two is a different story. Before really diving into The Great Misdirect and realizing how much of a masterpiece it is, this was my favorite Between The Buried and Me album. I am not joking, this used to be what I considered to be their cream of the crop. Now looking back on it, it's still pretty great, but it definitely is a little bit less of a strong album than it once was to me.

The first song here is The Proverbial Bellow. So with this track we still do not have that giant insanity that we usually get, but this time I feel like it has been better handled. You still get those meaty and heavy riffs here but it goes for more contemporary aspects. The riffs and drummings feel a lot more attuned with the vocals this time where before on Automata I, the lack of growls and screams felt off putting because the riffs and drumming were so big and large, but here they feel very in lined with what the band truly wanted to put forward, and the intensity comes in when needed. They definitely improved on this less heavy but still rocking sound that they introduced in Coma Ecliptic. Since this song is thirteen minutes in length you get a lot out of this whole style so it really grew on me the more I listened to it. It is really great stuff and probably one of the best songs off these two albums, which I think is really nice.

After that is Glide. This is a sort of short calm track but unlike Gold Drifter, this one I feel serves a sort of purpose to bridge the gap between the first and third songs off this album. It also has a bit more genre experimentation which I love. This is very baroque in a way, but like in a sort of a Dear Hunter style, which makes sense given they fact BTBAM and The Dear Hunter both had live concerts together, so maybe one of their songs rubbed the band a bit to try and attempt it. I gotta say it does sound pretty nice, though I still wish this was a little longer because it feels kinda incomplete with its shorter length. When the song was really getting into its own it feels like they cut it off too short. It doesn't ruin the song but it does feel like a cop-out.

Up next is Voice Of Trespass. I freaking love this song. It's so bombastic and jazzy, probably their most jazzy song yet. This perfectly captures what the band can really achieve if they put their minds to it. The horns and the perfect mix of those intense riffs and that 40s big band nature just feels so good. I think more metal bands should incorporate jazz elements in their songs because this is excellently well done. Plus the ending being this weird proggy finale that goes into this atmospheric short segment just really feels so good to hear. Plus we get a good amount of growls and screams here too, so they did sorta ditch the more calmer vocal arrangements on this song, but that does not really disappoint me. In fact I think this is a plus. This super jazzy number is just super well done, and it definitely was my favorite song from the band for quite a while. Just brilliant.

Last song on this album, I know it's pretty short, is The Grid. Where I felt Blot was a good ending but a little weak at points, here we get that classical BTBAM sound more. The harmonies and riffs just give off this epic feeling that just builds into this epic solo at the end. This song you can feel them really putting their all to make this work feel like the best it can be and it really does show. Everything about this song just engrosses the listener to really vibe with the music. It can be very calm at times but everything here feels as intense as it should be for a song by this band and I just love it. It is not face meltingly brutal but it does get the job done which I really appreciate. It is just really well made in every aspect, except for a tiny bit of the more calmer moments, but even then they aren't bad, just alright.

This is a really big step up from Automata I. This album feels a lot more cohesive and different. Even with 4 songs and 33 minutes of run time, this still has a lot to offer. Some great proggy tracks mixed with tight melodies and you got yourself an excellent album. Definitely not their greatest, but it still has a great deal to offer. Definitely recommend it if you love this band and want to see how much more they can experiment with their sound.