REVIEW: Between The Buried And Me – The Parralax: Hypersleep Dialogues

Artist: Between The Buried And Me
Album: The Parralax: Hypersleep Dialogues
Genre: Progressive Metal
Label: Metal Blade Records

Over the last decade in the realm of extreme metal, the music that Between the Buried and Me is unparalleled and unmatched in terms of creativity, quality, and expansiveness. It’s incredibly tough to argue against BTBAM as the most consistently mind-blowing band in heavy music. With the release of The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues this trend remains unchanged. Release after release, BTBAM has tweaked their sound ever so slightly to continue evolving, spanning quite a range of influences and sounds–all based around the same dense metal package.

In terms of quality, The Parallax is exactly what fans of BTBAM have come to expect and what newcomers will learn to love. Clocking in at thirty minutes for a mere three songs, the feeling about what you’re getting into in instantaneous. Holding the progressive torch high, the songwriting and musical dexterity of the band are at an all-time high as the varying styles and influences are woven as smoothly as ever. The melodies throughout the EP are often quite angular, but the changes in guitar tone and accompaniment keep them from every being over-the-top.

Perhaps the most amazing part of the EP, however, is the breadth of emotions the music and lyrics cover. Not obvious at first, The Parallax is the story of “two human characters who live in different planes of existence, separated by millions of light years. We find that each of them is confronted with similar personal issues that they need to reckon with. Both characters make decisions that will change their lives, and perhaps the course of the universe, forever.” Throughout the album the mood changes to reflect an amazing range of moods and emotions, covering just about anything you could imagine feeling if you were in the characters’ situations.

If The Parallax is a sign of what’s to come from BTBAM, everyone who is a fan of progressive or heavy music should be extremely excited as this EP is just setting them up to continue their dominance.

Score: 9/10
Review written by: Jordan Munson

James Shotwell
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