THE SILENT CIRCUS

this is one of the best metal bands i ever discovered. I was watching an underground metal program and they did a segment on the new metal bands coming out and the video for mordecai blew me away. Beware though this is definitely METAL influenced in the songwriting aspect by prog. The musicianship is astounding on all aspects, but the lyrics can be foul on certain songs. If they would throw out those certain song lyrics i would really be into this band a whole lot more.

Between the Buried and Me's second album, The Silent Circus finds them maturing into a more experimental/artistic version of an extreme metal band. This album builds on the technical intensity and diversity of mood found on their first album. The lineup on this album contains only chief songwriters Tommy (now adding synthesizer to the mix) and Paul from the previous version of the band. In typical BtB&M fashion, the intensity of the music is offset by quieter, more beautiful and emotional passages. This strange mix is what impresses me most about the band, and convinces me that they are on the forefront of a new movement marrying extreme, experimental, and emotional forms of music.

The music on this album is even more intense than their 1st, and is comparable to their 3rd album Alaska. This album is filled with technically intense and aggressive riffing-- sometimes non-descript for the first few listens, but is offset nicely by more catchy riffs. As soon as you feel lost in the chaos, the band locks into something you can move to. Also present in the music is their trademark contrast between dark intensity and spatial beauty (probably 60%/30% if I had to ball park it).

The synthesizer has a prominent role in more spatial, ambient sections of songs, which adds a new aspect to their music. The synth sounds are absent from most of the intense sections, which I think shows good discretion (sometimes synth is a cheesy addition to intense portions of music).

The lyrics are frequently written in a stream-of-consciousness style or dream narrative. There is a darkness to the lyrics, more so than on Alaska. The first 2 tracks (parts a & b of the same song-cycle, Lost Perfection) apparently describe a crazy dream, including all the mixed up details that don't make sense to the concious mind. One of the most testosterone-boosting moments of the album is during the 2nd part when the music pauses and Tommy screams "Death is in the air," at which point the band launches into a heavily palm-muted maniacal, menacing riff. The song "Mordacai" seems to be their most popular from this album, and I think most succinctly embodies their talent and creativity. It starts off intensely, gets quiet with a cool, jazzy guitar solo, and then a powerful, emotional ending.

To jump forward and compare this album with their 3rd, Alaska, I think they're of equal quality (this one really is as good as Alaska) in all aspects: songwriting, performance and production. However, I would still recommend Alaska first to the inquirer, because this album has a higher concentration of extreme metal intensity and has somewhat darker/more critical lyrical content. If you liked Alaska, or if you're already comfortable with extreme metal, this would be a great purchase. The later versions of the CD also contain a bonus DVD with live footage of at least 5 or 6 songs, some of which are from Alaska-which makes the package well worth the purchase.

Now we're talkin'...

Here, BtBaM take a somewhat drastic turn from their first release. This is definately a Progressive album, though one that shows room for improvement. However, what they did do to improve their style, they did right. Gone are the unchanging "Wall of sound" songs, and synthesizers are added to the mix for an interesting, almost sinister feel to some of the songs, rather than just angry. The experimentation and addition of styles makes for a unique album, especially amongst the rest of their "scene", in this case, Metalcore. The softer, even placid passages are added to the extremely heavy mix of the music, and while the changes in the songs can seem rather drastic, and I admit, they are, they add a certain cohesiveness to the album.

But, don't take the fact that they added synths, accoustic passages and softer sections to their music as an indicator that this is for everyone, as it is decidedly not. This is a very heavy, agressive and angy sounding album. There are some killer jazzy guitars, accoustic guitars and layered synthesizers in this album, but first and foremost a progressive metal album, or more specifically "Extreme Progressive Metal". The lyrics are very dark and fit the music perfectly, though most, including myself would be lucky to understand a large portion of them without the lyrics in front of you. The vocals are harsh, abrasive and could easily put anyone off to the music.

All in all, a solid album, by a developing band. With this album's release, the band's ermerging maturity begins to show, and the attempts to do something unique and interesting against a background of cookie cutter metal bands. Musicianship is top notch, and the whole album flows very well. The last track even has a bit of humor added to it, to show, at least the band can avoid taking itself too seriously.

3.5 Stars

Although their debut album was already a very progressive form of metalcore, BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME really upped their game on their second release THE SILENT CIRCUS. Part of this was in the drumming duty exchange of percussionists as Will Goodyear parted ways and Mark Castillo joined the noisefest, but the biggest change is in the inclusion of various other metal and non-metal styles to the mix. On this one there are unexpected outbursts of all types of bizarre contrasting genres that can last for a few seconds (like marching band drumming) or go off into a whole lengthy sequence (such as atmospheric indie rock). If that wasn't enough the music just seems more extreme and the songwriting is better as well although i personally find the debut eponymous release to be of fairly high quality in the songwriting as well, it's just that the band managed to find new ways to spice up the music and make the tracks stand on their own unlike the debut where the formula became a tad repetitive by the time the end neared.

This is the typically progressive metalcore that BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME delivers on all their earlier albums but with more weirdness than the debut. There are moments of extreme metal riffs that have the most messed up time sigs possible, moments of the bass slinking up and down the scales like a possessed caterpillar from hell and Tommy Rogers screams like an alien is bursting out of his stomach. This is really as extreme as this type of metal can get and that's exactly why i like it so much! While upon first listen this may sound like the typical metalcore with a few tricks and gimmicky trinkets thrown in for good measure, the band manages to create a huge variety of riff attacks, bass lines, drum rolls and screaming frenzies with various genre hopping escapes into clean vocal alternative metal, atmospheric space prog reminding me a bit of Porcupine Tree with bluesy melodic guitar solos and then can hop, skip and jump into extreme mathcore such as by headache masters Psyopus.

A giant leap in their technique proved BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME weren't just your run of the mill extreme metal band. They display all the fury and energetic prowess of the most hardcore bands in the biz but they equally show off their love of progressive rock and pull it off with ease, both in playing the prog and metal simultaneously and apart. All these meanderings keep the album from getting stale and one dimensional throughout the entire ten tracks. While the tracks can seem jittery and ever changing, the final track "The Need For Repetition" offers a nice groove metal type of riff that repeats and casts a hypnotic spell. One of the things i dislike about this album is that it has one of those annoying pointless hidden tracks after track ten and several minutes of silence which is basically just a rant with some thrash metal and a guitar solo backing up the riffs. Not as good as later albums like "Colors" but still an excellent album for those who like their metalcore decorated with nice proggy frosting.

With an already great album to boot, Between The Buried and Me were already on their way to progressive greatness. It is now that we see them truly experimenting in the field that they sown from their first album and truly solidified their role as an awesome progressive metal band. The Silent Circus is definitely a lot more praised in the Prog community, and for good reasons, and those reasons are gonna be what I will talk about throughout this album's run.

The album begins with a two part track known as Lost Perfection. The first part, part A. Coulrophobia shows the listener the raw might of the sound of Between The Buried and Me, much like the first album. Unlike the first album however, we get way more improved stuff all around. The vocals are less scratchy and the instrumentation is a lot more technical, heck even space like. In just the first song we hear the steady yet noticeable improvements this band delivers each and every album which is always a fun thing to see with bands. Part B. Anablephobia carries much of those same heavy and chaotic riffs found in Part A, but regresses a bit to a more traditional Metalcore sound. I do like this sound, but there is a little part of me that feels a bit off put on this. It's kinda like they want to be Prog, but also not at the same time. It's a little weird to me in my honest opinion. It is still very technical however which is an honest plus in my book. Part A is great, Part B is simply pretty good.

Up next is Camilla Rhodes. Another awesome and brutal metal song that just beats you down and never lets up. Going through this song feels almost intense, but after a bit you get used to it. It is complex as it is intense. This also has some very heavy lyricism, talking about sexual abuse in the music scene. At their core, they are a metalcore band, which at its core is punk, and many punk songs have lyrics that are as heavy as this song. It's definitely a tad off putting since their later releases will be more story driven, but here it is definitely to be appreciated.

Next up is Mordecai, and what I consider to be their first real big shining achievement into being a progressive metal band. While their past songs were technical and complex, this song showcases the use of switching between different feelings and vibes in their songs. It definitely has some transitional issues since it isn't as smooth as their later albums, but as it stands this track shows a golden trophy of graduation into a more symphonically sound band. With the heavy riffs and the very impressive screamo, I wouldn't have it any other way but to say this song is just super well made. It is definitely the band's first tried and true progressive metal song.

The next song is Reaction, which is more of an interlude than anything, but it shows the band learning from their first album, and that is to give the listener some time to process and reflect on what they just heard. The song is alright, nothing too special, but I love to see some good improvements.

Next track is Shevanel Take 2. This isn't a heavy song, at least not instrumentally. It is a very nicely done acoustic rock ballad and it shows off the band's willingness to step out of bounds and find new ways to spice up their sound and albums. It's a calm before and after the storm, and is a good way to allow the listener, too again, to reflect and cool off before jumping back into the heavy riffs. If that doesn't scream maturity, then nothing will. I also like how this is the second take, which I know doesn't matter but I think it's a little funny that they made it be included in the song's title even though you don't really need to add it there. I don't know, I just think it's kinda neat.

Ad A Dglgmut is next up and we are back into the heavy and technical riffs that we all love so much. The grand and epic guitars really make this track feel as true as Prog can get for these guys at the time. Some neat little tempo and emotional changes here and there and you get yourself a great track. Though you can still hear bits and pieces of their metalcore sound, that is definitely apparent no matter what album from these guys, but you can definitely still hear it here. Other than that, this song is another gem in a sea of 'em.

The next song is Destructo Spin. Like the last song, another very complex and technically great song with awesome riffs and chord progressions. This and the next song Aesthetic does deliver on the best of what makes Between The Buried and Me's early sound, but I don't know. I kinda feel as though these two songs are a tiny bit lacking since they feel a tad samey from the other heavy songs. I know they are a metal band, but a little diversity can go a long way. They definitely will diversify their sound way more in the coming years, but as it stands right now, it's a tiny bit lackluster.

And lastly is The Need For Repetition, the band's first double digit track, but not really. It's actually a 6 minute song, with a few minutes of silence, and then a hidden track at the eleven minute mark. For a vinyl or CD, sure it's a fine little thing, but on streaming it's kinda dumb. I am sorry I am just not into the whole hidden track thing, kinda feels like you're wasting some amazing opportunities for creating more awesome music. This is the same problem I have with The Way Of All Flesh by Gojira, but we'll get there if I ever review that album. I am more forgiving since the silence is only a few minutes, and the hidden track is not that bad, but still that whole weird hidden track love certainly doesn't age well in the modern day. Not a bad closure but could be so much more.

This is a great album, but it definitely still has some weak spots. They may have hit their stride in the progressive sphere but they haven't reached their sweet spot in terms of sound. I like it, but there are much better albums coming after this one. I recommend this one if you wanted a little more out of their first album, it certainly has a lot of good moments and I feel like the great things this album has can outweigh the middle of the road aspects.