THE PARALLAX II - FUTURE SEQUENCE

BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME's metalcore tendencies fuse with a hyperactive technical death metal to create dynamic tracks that stray far from generic metal on THE PARALLAX II. I was truly apprehensive about giving them a shot because their annoying fan base kept idolizing them and "metalcore" scared me. But, as Wicket puts it on his review, BTBAM has a particular way of making non-metalcore fans enjoy their music, regardless of the listener's distaste for the genre. Mostly because they just take certain characteristics of it; their music is rooted on metalcore, but it also offers several other influences that, all fused together, stray far from the sameness, fake emotionality or immaturity the genre can connote.

Over an hour long, its dynamism and metamorphic rhythms, patterns, arrangements, and melodies - albeit not really different among themselves - was able to keep me actively hooked and particularly entertained. Granted I had little idea of what was going on, mostly due to the confusing lyrics or disorientating, boastful wall of textures, but it genuinely a good experience. Assuming I had been tortured by a "musical crisis" (I was having a hard time genuinely enjoying music) and they took me out of it, it's safe for me to assume that their output is pretty entertaining.

The band clearly opted to separate their avant-garde (due to lack of better term) highly technical extreme metal expression on the longer tracks, which are pretty obviously the limelight of the album. Highly eclectic, sonically intense and offering a vast array of sounds, there's no sleepy moments while listening to them, mostly because if you ever felt lightheaded the powerful lead guitars or the melodic rhythm ones would blast you back to your place, awake and well. The shorter tracks are mostly there for conceptual purposes, functioning as a tool of cohesion. They offer profound lyrics, perfect as a tool of immersion on the context BTBAM constructs. Musically, though, they fall short, I don't feel the band works well with softer music.

All's good so far, but I do have a critic. I felt the concept was poorly expressed. The lyrics are convoluted and cryptical, I barely could understand the general idea they were trying to propose. In my opinion, concepts, at least at its very fundamental level, should be easily identifiable on the first spin. Naturally, there's no issue with details being harder to spot, but the problem is that both the very structure PARALLAX II is based upon, as well its details, remained shady to me even after I finished the album.

THE PARALLAX II should be listened in its entirety at once. I can't imagine trying to give the songs a shot on shuffle, or individually, I feel as if its magic and pompously noisy capacities wouldn't be enjoyed to the max if done so. And, pretty obviously, more than one listen is imperative to really absorb it (although roughly all prog albums are like that so I'm sure you're aware of this condition). Nonetheless, I highly recommend giving it a shot. At once, or not, as you will, really, but just don't let the "this is metalcore" or "this is too long" prejudices fool you. BTBAM is pretty dope.

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