AUTOMATA I

Between the Buried and Me returned in 2018 with an interesting two-part concept album that is simultaneously melodic, intense and lavishly complex, with the first part called 'Automata I' featuring six tracks for a total length of some thirty-five minutes. The band's releases are typically quite labyrinthian and full of complex riffs, hooks and melodies, so trying to narrow things down to an EP-length release seems like a fine compromise between the intensity of the music and the digestibility of the work. For what concerns the contents of this album, 'Automata' seems to be one of the more experimental and frivolous BTBAM works, with the five-piece band exploring a variety of moods, sounds and stylistic shifts, all while staying faithful to their excellent signature blend of metalcore and progressive metal. Sacrificing none of the aggressive prog-pomp of their classic albums, 'Automata I' is sufficiently eclectic and enjoyable to be considered as one of the high points of their career.

Starting off with the killer track 'Condemned to the Gallows', we have some muscular riffs and intense growling vocals, with an interesting keyboard pattern dispersed all over. The rupturing heaviness is counterbalanced by the complexity of the track and the gorgeous clean vocal sections - we have six minutes of heavy, proggy greatness. Transitioning swiftly into the second song 'House Organ', this significantly shorter entry is really aggressive and the group's metalcore pedigree comes to the fore. Third song off the album is the manic 'Yellow Eyes' and its eight minutes of relentless technical playing and quirky writing, that sees BTBAM exploring some of their most unusual vocal melodies. Just a very strong longer piece that is followed by the moody and somewhat darker 'Millions', as we have one of the rare instance of a slower-tempo song from the American metalcore outfit. A one-minute-long instrumental leads to the closing piece titled 'Blot', a 10-minute tour de force that sees the band going back to what they do best - melodic chaos, strong melodies, angular playing and unpredictable twists, all within the ten minutes of soaring complexity. The first half of this two-part album is an excellent work that anticipates many of the glorious moments found on its complementary second half.

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