Between the Buried and Me-Colors
Victory
September 18, 2007

Eight songs in 64 minutes and 12 seconds. Heavy parts, light parts, piano intros, singing, screaming, country barndancing parts, insane drums, even more insane guitar parts, awe inspiring keyboard playing, a wide vocal range and some parts that will make the listener flat out laugh in reaction to the absolute talent that is put forth throughout the music. This only somewhat describes the force that is Between the Buried and Me, arguably the most talented band in metal.

Each song has so many parts that it can be hard to wrap your head around, though in a good way. Not only do Between the Buried and Me add a lot of parts, but they add so many different styles, and do so at the drop of a hat. They don't leave much time to absorb everything, forcing the listener to listen to this album many times to pick up new aspects of their music (similar to rewatching an episode of The Simpsons). They also throw the listener a fastball by having these songs bleed into each other, making Colors potentially sound like one hour long song, which doesn't get boring.

Colors isn't as out there as their previous work. There is still incredible musicianship and an absolute ton of parts, but these parts seem easier to wrap the brain around. They do experiment with some unchartered styles, including circus music ("Sum of Nothing"), polka that sounds like something Tom Waits would do ("Prequel to the Sequel") and country ("Ants of the Sky"), in addition to the every genre of metal, punk, hardcore, grind, and rock and roll that they have previously mastered. There is some excellent guitar work on here (i.e. the only guitar work on this album is excellent), though not as much noodling as previous efforts. The drumming is crazy as ever, with Blake Richardson doing a hell of a job behind the kit, never letting up for a second (not that the rest of the band ever do either).

This, as expected, is an absolute crazy album, in the best way possible. This is, without a doubt, a great album from an almost overly talented band. This ranks right up there with their already impressive archive of work.

Written by: RF

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