ALASKA

Whoa! This album is crazy-awesome. Everything the band started to develop on The Silent Circus has been perfected, and now we're seeing their experimental side come out. The songs vary from brutal metal assaults to post-rock-ish ethereal breaks and even some jazzy elevator music to close the disc! And as complicated as the pieces may be, all of it is very expressive and emotional. It's worth nothing that Between the Buried and Me make much more use of the bass than most tech-y bands. Dan Briggs is a machine (a human machine, of course, or at least a machine with AI because if he weren't that would contradict my last sentence); he works the fretless bass quite nicely. As far as the other musicians go, vocalist Tommy Rogers has one of the most varietal voices in the business; he has a huge range both in his clean voice and his screams & growls. Lead guitarist Paul Waggoner has flying fingers and rhythm guitarist Dusty Waring maybe overlooked, but he is quite skilled himself, and drummer Blake Richardson is mind-boggling. This group has so much ground on their peers that it's almost not worth spending your time on anyone else.

All you need to hear to become a convert is "Selkies: The Endless Obsession." It covers many of the group's sounds and styles and beyond that it's completely ineffable. Stunning! The other highlights are the opener "All Bodies," the brilliant "Backwards Marathon" and that great closer "Laser Speed." The only weak spot is "Croakies and Boatshoes" because it's pretty much a standard tech-metalcore piece, but it does have some funny lyrics, and it's not bad by any stretch. Well, and "Roboturner" gets a bit irritating in spots, but that one bass line makes everything ok again.

This band is unbelievable, and somehow they find a way to outdo themselves with each new release. You'll forget how good their past albums are because of how good their newest one is, but make sure you put the older ones on every now and then because you're quickly reminded of how much you love them too.