BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME Colors II | Weekly Heavy Metal Album Review

Released by Sumerian Records on August 20th, 2021

Quick Background

One of my favorite modern prog metal bands, Between the Buried and Me, often abbreviated as BTBAM, is an American progressive metal band from North Carolina. They formed in 2000 by Tommy Rogers (lead vocals, keyboards) and Paul Waggoner (guitar). The other members Dustie Waring (guitar), Dan Briggs (bass, keyboards), and Blake Richardson (drums) joined the band in 2005 for the release of their third album Alaska. Their fourth album Colors (2007) was their breakthrough and it's now considered one of the best modern progressive metal albums. Now we will talk about the sequel to it, Colors II. 

Colors II 

Colors II is their tenth studio album and their second release with this label, following the two-part album Automata. It serves as a direct follow-up to Colors. Prog fans won't be disappointed, there's a lot of BTBAM here! 80 minutes of music in 12 tracks. 

Like the first Colors, the album was written as one piece of music, but it's not a concept album. Thematically it is linked to the idea of the first one and there are call backs and little nuggets of the music.  "Monochrome" opens the album and it picks up from were Colors left off with a piano melody.  It's a Pink Floydian start with an 80's vibe to it, and I also love the simple chugging guitar to get us started. As trademark BTBAM, the song builds up to a heavy track to transition to the super heavy "The Double Helix of Extinction". I love the drums and the bass interlude on it. A fun note, it's very cool that 'between the buried and me' sentence is part of the lyrics. 

I love Colors but I am not an expert on it, still when we get to "Revolution In Limbo", third longest song on the album, it features a very nice melodic chorus  that I think has calls back to part one. First I thought that Corpse Grinder was a guest singer but apparently it's Blake who sings on this song, giving it a nice touch. There's an Opeth vibe when the song transition into this Latin flavored interlude. The album's 1st single "Fix The Error" is a drum delight. It starts with a cool drum into followed by a bass jazz line. But there's much more,  while many bands invite guitar player to do guest solos, BTBAM invited a drummer, oh sorry I must say, drummers! There's actually 3 drummers contributing to this amazing drum solo sequence. Mike Portnoy, Navene Koperweis (Entheos) and Ken Schalk (Candiria). 

"Never Seen / Future Shock" is the second longest song on the album.  It has a nice groove, a folky interlude but the best for me it is the last minutes were it gets really prog rock. It is a good lead into the short "Stare Into The Abyss". "Prehistory" is another short one to kick off the second half of the album. I believe some call backs to Colors are also present. A highlight is the bass solo, that to me sounds like an homage to Cliff Burton. The cartoon sounds give it a different touch and overall it is also a more prog rock influenced track. 

"Bad Habits" shows another example of the diversity of guitar tones and styles used on the album. The solos are different from each other, often drawing from different styles and influences. As expected the album is very eclectic with unusual mixes and influences, but somehow BTAM has perfected the art of combining all of those styles and influences seamlessly. "The Future Is Behind Us" is a prog rock song with a deathcore breakdown, pretty cool huh? Then "Turbulent" features a 80's synth, and it all seem to work for me. Like in Colors a short song, the David Gilmour spired "Sfumato", gives away to the epic closer and longest song of the album "Human Is Hell (Another One With Love)", even longer than "White Walls". Actually the intro riff reminds a lot of the Colors album closer.

Overall, it feels that the first half of the album is heavier and angrier than Colors, less softer parts maybe? But the second half gives away a more prog rock vibe while still being BTBAM and heavy at moments. Overall Colors II is a culmination of everything the band has done and experienced so far. The production is great and brighter than Colors'.

The Picky Guy

If I am to pick something, the only thing I can say is that there's a lot of singing, I know it's weird to say that. But I'd prefer more instrumental parts and not packed with lyrics, but it's a very personal choice and not a big deal.

Wrap Up Opinion 

Colors II like a good complex prog album, takes time to assimilate, with that said, it brings no surprises to the long term BTBAM fans. Their style is solidified and if anything this album relates more to their early stuff than to the last couple of albums. But it's a culmination of them all. It is very dynamic and eclectic, but still heavy, specially the first half. Is Colors II at par with Colors? Probably not, but we will only be able to really say that after months or even years. One thing is certain it's worthy of its name already. It's a great album, 87/100 and probably will stay on my top 5 albums of 2021. So take your time with it, you are in for a journey and enjoy it. 

SCORE: 87/100

Genre: Progressive Metal

Released by Sumerian Records on August 20th, 2021

Rating System

99 - 100 Perfect
94 - 98 Excellent
87 - 93 Great
82 - 86 Very Good
77 - 81 Good
66 - 76 Mixed
58 - 65 Bad

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