| Between the Buried and Me | |
|---|---|
| Origin | North Carolina, United States |
| Genre(s) | Progressive metal[1][2][3] Death metal[2][4][5] Metalcore[1][2][4] |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Label(s) | Lifeforce Records Victory Records |
| Website | Official website |
| Members | |
| Tommy Rogers Paul Waggoner Dusty Waring Dan Briggs Blake Richardson |
|
| Former members | |
| Will Goodyear Nick Fletcher Jason King Bobby Fowley Shane Blay Mark Castillo Kevin Falk |
|
Between the Buried and Me is a progressive metal quintet from Raleigh, North Carolina. The band's name is derived from a section of lyrics in Counting Crows’ song "Ghost Train": "Took the cannonball down to the ocean/Across the desert from the sea to shining sea/I rode a ladder that climbed across the nation/Fifty million feet of earth between the buried and me."
Contents |
Biography
The band was founded in early 2001 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina by vocalist Tommy Rogers, guitarist Paul Waggoner, drummer Will Goodyear, guitarist Nick Fletcher, and bassist Jason King.[6] The band released their self-titled debut on Life Force Records in 2002. The music style varied between the songs with hints of death metal, grindcore, jazz, and thrash metal. This album includes the track "Arsonist," which is a protest against the beliefs and practices of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. This album is not widely known and the tracks are rarely played live. The record did garner the attention of Victory Records, to which they later signed. In 2003, the band released their second album, The Silent Circus. This album is a natural progression of the band's previous work , featuring more complex music and more layers. The hit track "Mordecai" was also produced as their first music video. The album was re-released in 2006 with a DVD which included a full live performance in Carrboro, North Carolina, an interview with the band, and three music videos: "Mordecai," "Alaska," and "Slumber Party (a single from Tommy Rogers under the name "Giles")." In this album, drummer Mark Castillo replaced Will Goodyear. Bassist Dan Briggs of Erie, Pennsylvania replaced Jason King as the band's bass guitarist. Briggs has also been a member of Espinaca, Nemo, and MFWC. Drummer Mark Castillo and guitarist Nick Fletcher were replaced by Blake Richardson and Dusty Waring, both of Glass Casket. In 2005, Between the Buried and Me released their third album, Alaska, which showed their evolving and changing style even more than before. The title track "Alaska" became their second music video. In 2006, the band released The Anatomy Of..., which is a collection of covers of bands that inspired Between the Buried and Me, including Metallica, Queen, Pink Floyd, Earth Crisis, and Counting Crows. On September 18th, 2007, the band released their fourth studio album, Colors. The band has said that "it's a 65 minute opus of non stop pummeling beautiful music... we have described this release as 'new wave polka grunge'".[7] Elsewhere, they have also described it as "adult contemporary progressive death metal." They have sold over 250,000 records in the United States alone.
Style and influence
Their sound incorporates many different musical styles: "One minute the band may be playing thrash metal and the next they're flowing into death metal growls and thick guitar riffs... the metal take on things can seemingly change in a flash as lead singer Tommy Rogers fleshes out his vocals and utilizes the keyboards to create something that sounds more like it should be on a Smashing Pumpkins album".[8] On their covers album, The Anatomy Of, the band pays tribute to many of their diverse influences, ranging from Pantera to Pink Floyd.[9]
Touring
In early 2006, Between the Buried and Me was on tour supporting Bleeding Through along with Every Time I Die and Haste The Day. They were also on the Ozzfest 2006 Second Stage alongside Ozzy Osbourne, Black Label Society, Atreyu, Unearth, Bleeding Through, Strapping Young Lad, Walls of Jericho, Norma Jean, A Life Once Lost, The Red Chord, All That Remains, Full Blown Chaos, and Bad Acid Trip. Between the Buried and Me has also been on notable tours with DragonForce, The Black Dahlia Murder, A Life Once Lost, From a Second Story Window, Cephalic Carnage, The Red Chord, The Acacia Strain, Bleeding Through, Misery Signals, Every Time I Die, and Haste the Day. In late 2006, Between the Buried and Me was on the Radio Rebellion Tour headlined by Norma Jean. Other bands on the tour included Fear Before the March of Flames, Misery Signals, and The Fully Down. In September 2007, after the release of Colors, the band went on tour with Animosity and HORSE the band. Giant also supported their shows in the states. They began the tour with The End, but they ended up dropping off because of guitarist Andrew Hercules sudden leave of the band. The run concluded with their November 4 appearance at the Saints and Sinners Fest in Asbury Park, New Jersey. In December 2007, they again embarked on a headlining tour, supported by August Burns Red and Behold... The Arctopus. As on the last tour, their set consisted of playing Colors in its entirety, followed by an encore of 2-3 older songs. The Band are setting off on a Whole Uk tour with Mathcore Outfit The Dillinger Escape Plan at the start of February. They will be part of "Progressive Nation '08", along with Dream Theater, Opeth and 3.[10]
Current members
- Tommy Rogers - Vocals/Keyboards (Prayer for Cleansing, Giles)
- Paul Waggoner - Guitar (Prayer for Cleansing)
- Dusty Waring - Guitar (Glass Casket)
- Blake Richardson - Drums/Percussion (Glass Casket)
- Dan Briggs - Bass (Espinaca, Nemo, MFWC)
Former members
- Will Goodyear - drums/percussion (Voids, Prayer for Cleansing)
- Nick Fletcher - guitar (Azazel)
- Jason King - bass (Azazel, Nola)
- Shane Blay - guitar (Oh, Sleeper, Evelynn)
- Mark Castillo - drums/percussion (Bury Your Dead)
- Kevin Falk - bass (Every Time I Die)
- Terry Jason Roe - drums/percussion (Evelynn, Dreaming of the Fifth)
- Ryan Spires- drums/percussion (FBA)
Discography
- 2001: Demo 2001
- 2002: Between the Buried and Me
- 2003: The Silent Circus (reissued in 2006)
- 2005: Alaska
- 2006: The Anatomy Of...
- 2007: Colors
Singles
- Mordecai (2003)
- Alaska (2005)
- (B) The Decade Of Statues (2007)
Side Projects
- Tommy Rogers has his own electronic side project, "Giles."
- Dusty Waring and Blake Richardson are also in a deathcore band called Glass Casket (Abacus Recordings). This has led some to question the future of Glass Casket, although both members of Glass Casket have stated that neither band is currently in jeopardy, as other members of Glass Casket are currently busy with college.
External links
- Official website
- VictoryRecords.com
- The Lifeforce Records page
- purevolume.com
- at Stereokiller
- Myspace
References
- ^ a b BTBAM described as progressive metalcore. Encyclopeadia Metallum. Retrieved on May 21, 2007.
- ^ a b c BTBAM described as progressive metal, metalcore. Last.fm. Retrieved on May 21, 2007.
- ^ BTBAM described as metalcore, progressive metal and progressive death metal. Metalobserver. Retrieved on May 21, 2007.
- ^ a b BTBAM described as death metal, metalcore. Rockdetector. Retrieved on May 21, 2007.
- ^ BTBAM described as death metal. Allmusic. Retrieved on May 21, 2007.
- ^ Official Site
- ^ Between the Buried and Me quote (English) (2007-06-13). Retrieved on 2007-06-27. “its a 65 minute opus of non stop pummeling beautiful music... we have described this release as "new wave polka grunge."”
- ^ Review of The Silent Circus. Allmusic. Retrieved on May 21, 2007.
- ^ Between the Buried and Me Biography. Allmusic. Retrieved on May 21, 2007.
- ^ http://mikeportnoy.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=1851274
