BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME

This debut album from NC natives BTBAM show that they will soon be a force to be reckoned with. While probably the weakest album they made it has great moments. Most particularly for me 'Fire for a Dry Mouth' (track 5) and Shevanel Cut a Flip' (track 8).

Listening to ffadm shows influence of meshuggah-like use of polymetrics in the intro. Fire like intensity of hardcore and heavy metal in the meaty section of the song. Displays of what to come with the band in the ending.

SCAF on the other hand pays tribute to ole' Dimebag in the beginning. While this riffage is entirely influenced by this man, it doesn't come off as a ripoff. The ending with it's pretty use of tonal harmony encourages and aggravates me. The two part harmony of the vocals is amazing to listen to especially considering where they come from. No band from NC at this time sounded like this. To drop from sludgy, country fried death metal to a saddened blissful almost peaceful outro.

Admittedly screamo songs almost always come off this way. The pitch of Tommy's vocals is within the realm of screamo which can be annoying to me at times. The two part vocal harmony although ending too quickly makes up for this.

The sound of this album is raw which for me is a plus. Sometimes over production kills an albums replay value for me. I've had this album for a while now and haven't even listened to it in a year or so. A lot of it is forgotten to me now as is always the case until I put the CD in and listen.

While not an essential album to own for a tech enthusiast it is a good start for what is to come with the band. Most songs have a high point but nothing overly memorable. Exceptions being track 5 and 8 for me. The band does nothing but get better after this.

They have almost infinite influences that can be heard in their discography. Most notable for me in this album was hardcore, nu metal, tech metal, screamo, southern death metal, and black metal. That's a lot for a first album. However, the transitions on this album can be rough. Structuring is a major problem on this album at times. Perhaps this is why I listen to it the least of the rest of their albums.

Three stars even in my opinion. Good raw retrospective look on a great band.