BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME

1. Mirrors (3:38) ' This album opens with some nice guitar riffs. The vocal starts as a melodic accompaniment. The music picks up pace with faster paced drums and nice bass lines. The vocal continues its melodic theme folding into the next track

2. Obfuscation (9:15) ' this track immediately transitions from the simplistic melody of the previous track Mirrors to this decidedly heavier metal piece. It begins with a nasty raw growling vocal that is offset with a symphonic sounding integrated guitar keyboard mix that standing along would excite almost any progressive rock fan. Getting used to the raw sounding vocal during the early part of this track can be a chore. However if you hang in there, you will find some excellent electric guitar riffs and some exciting drumming/base line backdrop. Then the song progresses into some more contemporary movements reminiscent of Dream Theater.

3. Disease, Injury, Madness (11:03) ' I must admit that I am not drawn to dark lyrical themes such as put forth by the name of this particular track. This song starts very heavy music with not much too much else to mention. Then it moves to a nice melodic piece with off-beat jazz style drumming and interesting conversational vocal. It continues to decay into a beautiful acoustic guitar piece and then suddenly explodes into a very heavy raw (once again nasty growling vocal). It continues and then migrates slowly into what I can only describe as a classic rock jam. Then we have a slower soft rock moment with brushing drumming, guitar effects and awesome bass line. The guitars break back with some well-developed lead guitar riffs accompanied buy organ (sounds like a Hammond). The song concludes with a very heavy raw growling gent.

4. Fossil Genera - A Feed from Cloud Mountain (12:11) ' The introduction is interesting as it sound like a movie track from some old film. It then continues with a something that continues to sound like something from an earlier error (30s or 40s) and then a layer of heavier distorted guitar comes in as an overlay. Sit back and enjoy the ride is the growing chorus that screams from the background. Then we get another Dream Then moment with the guitar and keyboard fully integrated into a singular complex sound following the powerful drumming augmented by bass line perfectly. There are some really nice moments buried (no pun intended) within what on the surface may seem to be chaos. The music gets more complex finally arriving at its acoustic classic guitar roots. We conclude with strumming acoustic guitar, complex clean guitar lead riffs and beautiful clean vocals.

5. Desert of Song (5:33) ' The song starts with some of the same excellent acoustics guitar work that concluded the previous track along with a wind effect. Then we have a 'Guns and Roses' style vocal introduction along with western style guitar, and perhaps some blues slide guitar. Then we break into the part of the album that would have the most popular appeal. It has a nice rolling but powerful ballet as they sing 'the silence is broken' chorus.

6. Swim to the Moon (17:54) ' Now we have the 'lion king' moment. No actually it is very good and breaks into a complex math rock piece reminiscent of 80's style King Crimson. Then rapidly it speeds up into a very technically complex movement of music. It is Chaotic at moments and very organized at others. The musicianship is excellent, but much of the central part of the track is lacking emotion. The center part of this track is almost overly technical which takes more time off the clock than needed. Then it starts to get really interesting with syncopated instrumentation, off- beat drumming and intense leads. There are complex and unexpected starts and stops, organ solos, ultra-fast guitar solos, and all round major kick'As rock and roll breakouts. Then back to the Celtic melody that started the song. The drumming is bombastic and flowing. The growing vocal joins back in for a short period and is broken up by a softer melodic movement of acoustic guitar and then back to the chorus followed by complex 80s style King Crimson guitar work.

While I am typically not a big fan of growing vocal, I do make a periodic exception for exceptionally talented music and musicians most notably Opeth and Ocean Architecture. These guys fall into this category for me, so 4 out of 5.

Holy S**T!!

I could not believe my ear holes. With excellent musical composition and more (welcomed) clean singing, it seems like these guys got even better at working together to make their music while still adding a touch of humor. I would have to say this is now my favorite album by these guys and one of my favorite albums of all time. For those who are turned off by the vocals, I encourage you to give a more patient listen to BTBAM's music as they might expand your musical preferences the way they did for me. As for the reviewers at Progarchives, I would hope they would give a less biased review of BTBAM's albums (and at least give ONE review for this album) instead of complaining about Giles' vocals(not as much to complain about on this album). Even if you don't like their music, you cannot deny the diversity and technical talent that BTBAM offers....

I try to listen to whole album from start to finish but if I had to pick my favorite songs, I would say "Lay Your Ghosts to Rest", "Telos", and "Melting City"

By the way, I avidly use this website to find new music and have listened to many albums posted yet I have only felt the need to write a review on two albums. This album is one of the two that I feel deserved a review.

Thus, I was very excited to hear this release to see if they'd be able to recapture the spark. Unfortunately, I don't think that's the case here. Colors was brilliant because, despite the incredible heaviness and technicality, it never felt cramped and all the compositions felt unique and memorable. While BtBaM has certainly not lost any of their ability here, the compositions feel far more generic and at times even needlessly busy. Of course, that's not to say the album is bad by any means. There's quite a bit to enjoy here, but I have to confess that I don't think The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues measures up to its predecessors.

"Specular Reflection" begins with an ominous orchestral section that makes use of piano, horns, strings, and even some gothic-style chanting. At about the one minute mark, however, BtBaM drops the introduction and comes out swinging, with their typical blend of brutal growls, technical riffing and staunch refusal to stick to one time signature fully on display. Shortly before the four minute mark the group pulls out another of their signature moves, introducing clean vocals for a surprisingly melodic section. At around five minutes they switch things up again, introducing a motif that makes use of tribal sounding percussion and long, droning notes to replace the earlier frenetic riffs. This theme is developed for a while, with the heaviness returning and eventually morphing back into the heavily riff-based structure. The track closes with another clean vocal section that slowly fades out in a wash of sound effects and electronic noise.

"Augment of Rebirth" begins with a frenetic shredding section that's highly reminiscent of the opening of Colors' "Ants of the Sky." Once the vocals come in, however, the heavy, technical riffs return and the song begins to sound very (almost disappointingly) similar to "Specular Reflection." In fact, there's not a great deal of variation in the track as a whole until a bizzaro polka section begins around 6 and a half minutes in. It's just the kind of weird, quirky section that has made previous BtBaM work sound so varied and eclectic, but here it feels a bit forced and it's used only very briefly before the track returns to the brutally heavy riffing with which it began. It closes out with another excellent clean vocal section that comes off dreamy and crushingly heavy simultaneously. In fact, the last minute of the song in general is amazing, with heaviness and melody being blended with a sophistication that has been found lacking in much of the rest of the track.

"Lunar Wilderness" begins with a psychedelic section led in turns by acoustic and electric guitar. It's a brilliant opening that transitions perfectly into a growled vocal section. From there the track goes into another series of uptempo riffing sections, but in my opinion they're more smoothly carried out than in either of the previous tracks. Again, the track concludes with a dreamily psychedelic clean-sung section, and overall "Lunar Wilderness" ends up being, in my opinion, the strongest of the three tracks here.

So, all in all, while The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues is far from a poor release, I found myself a bit disappointed while listening to it. All of the elements that made Colors and, to a lesser extent, The Great Misdirect so good are there, but to me it seems like some of the soul's been sucked out. The compositions here seems a bit too busy, as if the band took every decent idea they'd ever had and tried to cram it into a mere 30 minutes. When it works, it works spectacularly, but more often than not, it just sounds kind of cluttered. If you're specifically looking for as much heaviness and technicality as possible, this might do more for you than it did for me, but overall I think one would be much better served with either of the band's previous two releases.

3/5

Well, this album may not be as "Proggy" as their newer stuff, but I still find this album great. This is probably one of my favorite albums by them and for any fan that likes this kind of prog, should give it a chance. Now, the highlights of the album are indeed the song Alaska, it is amazing how they jump around time signatures so much. Another song that really stands out is the song, Selkies: The Endless Obsession. This song is filled with progressive elements and shows that they were headed in the right direction. With synths, odd time signatures, the clean ending, all makes this song a wonderful progressive adventure. Definitely my favorite track. Now with the other tracks, there were some fillers, but a lot did grow on me. Other tracks I really enjoyed at first were; Backwards Marathon, All Bodies, The Primer, and Laser Speed. Laser Speed is just awesome. A great acoustic instrumental that anybody should find enjoyable.

Now, onto the rating. 4 stars, why? For music; like I explained earlier, there were some fillers, but they tend to grow on you. But, of course, there were many great songs. For their musicianship; Oh, they are great indeed. Drumming of Blake Richardson is outstanding. His fills are great, and hyperactive. The guitar work and bass work is as well outstanding. Great sweeping, great bass lines. The vocals; ahh, his death growls, just are really unique. I would of liked more clean vocals, but you can tell he is capable of singing clean, as in the song Backwards Marathon, he shows his full capability. Overall, I'd rate this album a 4.5/5 or 4/5.

***** songs- Selkies, Alaska, Backwards Marathon, All Bodies.

**** songs- Laser Speed, The Primer, Medicine Wheel and Autodidact

*** songs- Roboturner, Breathe In Breathe Out, and Croakies and Boatshoes.

"Everythings a novelty..."

This is the first whole album I have listened to from BTBAM, the only other contact I have had with this band is the song Alaska and More Of Myself To Kill.

With this being said I will know procede to blabber about this album like a good new fanboy would. This is very far from your average Metalcore band like As The Blood Runs Black or similar, BTBAM manage to pack an absolute ton of musical ideas into this release without it ever losing focus. All of the transitions into other styles of music are also done extremely expertly and smoothly. I still have no clue how BTBAM manages to make all the transitions so natural sounding, because they never ever sound out of place.

The muscianship is above top notch, everything from blast-beating to soft jazz is played with amazing precision and expertise.

I will refrain from saying anything much about the music specifically so as not to ruin your musical adventure contained within this album. Hopefully you will be as amazed with this album (and band) as I was.

If you're looking for the return to greatness then I doubt that The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues is the best place to start. I've been listening to it for a few month now and I still can't say that I enjoy any of these compositions. There are definitely many moments of greatness embedded into these performances but that's pretty much everything I'm left with by the end of it. There band definitely doesn't cheat its audiences when it comes to instrumental prowess but without giving the compositions enough time to mature, thus making this EP feel and sound very unfocused.

I'm sure that there are layers upon layers of hidden treasures within these three lengthy compositions but I have neither the time nor interest to engage myself enough to see the complete picture of what is being painted here. Maybe I'm just getting more conservative with time since I clearly used to like Metalcore a whole lot more in the past. Or could it be that bands like Between The Buried And Me, Iwrestledabearonce, Dillinger Escape Plan, Protest The Hero and others are just not bringing anything new to the table? Either way, it's safe to say that The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues is just not doing it for me.

**** star songs: Augment Of Rebirth (10:19)

*** star songs: Specular Reflection (11:21) Lunar Wilderness (8:22)

This 30 minute EP is supposed to be the first part of a larger concept. If you'd wander whether their growing popularity would go pop or commercial, you can rest assured, Between the Buried and Me are all set to remain ´the ultimate Progressive Metalcore experience. And progressive they go, especially in the opening track ...

A strong EP that has more to offer then many full-length albums this year.

The music on The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues is unquestionably Between the Buried and Me's distinct blend of metalcore and progressive metal, but possibly a bit more brutal and eclectic than their previous album. There seems to be a large focus on dissonance on this EP - something present on the band's previous efforts, but not quite as prominent as it is here. Melodic sections and quirky instrumentals do creep up quite a bit, though, and keep the music from ever growing stale. Compositionally, the album is extremely strong, and features some of the band's finest material to date. The first track, "Specular Reflection", opens up The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues in full form. This epic, 11 and a half minute opus highlights Between the Buried and Me's more dissonant side, while also showcasing melodic sections with clean vocals as well as a very progressive song structure. "Augment of Rebirth" is a bit more of a heavy track, sporting plenty of brutal technicalities and harsh vocals. A few weird, almost circus-sounding sections also present here - "eclectic" is a fair word to describe this track, I guess. "Lunar Wilderness", while still quite heavy in parts, is the softest song on the EP. Plenty of beautiful melodies and warm arrangements make this an excellent closing track.

Of course, as we're used to from Between the Buried and Me, the musicianship is professional and spectacular across the board. These guys are technical behemoths, so certainly no complaints are warranted in that department. I do have an issue with how The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues is produced, however. It's mixed way too loudly and sounds quite sterile and lifeless, especially during the heavier sections. It really lacks warmth and depth, if you ask me.

Despite my complaint regarding the production, The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues is overall a very successful effort from Between the Buried and Me. This isn't the best entry point into their discography, but it's an exceptional EP that serves as an essential purchase to all established fans of the band. 4 stars are very well deserved here. If super-technical, super-brutal, super-complex, and super-original progressive extreme metal is what you're looking for, then I can't recommend this one highly enough. Between the Buried and Me are considered one of the forerunners of modern metal, and this EP is even more proof that they've wholeheartedly earned that title!

I remember being told about this release by my brother. At first I thought it was an album, and was very excited, and shocked because it wasn't too long since their last release, and then I heard it was an e.p, and my excitement turned into meh...cause e.ps are good and all, but hey you can't beat a full length release...or can you.

This release really didn't need to be longer...3 epics roled on to a 30 minute cd...that's enough to be honest. Any more of this, and I may blush to death.

Now being a fan of these guys for a while, I wouldn't say I'm their biggest fanatic. I like them and all, it's just listening to them for long periods of time can make you confused...which is why this e.p is perfect. I think one of the things that keeps me from loving them is that the whole musicianship and technicality of their material can be a bit overbearing at times. I think when it comes to technicality, the Dream Theater method, of having contemporary amazing musicianship is more listenable. Although I have to admit, they are getting more pleasurable with each listen.

This e.p really has 3 mammoth songs....and each I have given a nickname...as you will see if you continue to read on.

Their seems to a concept present, but from what I gather, its about God, the creation of the universe and dreams...that's what I get from it, maybe I'm wrong who knows. But the flowing linked concept really does make it interesting, and gives a reason behind the rather sporadic instrumental work. The songs really do flow into each other well and all the sections do work together in harmony. I prefer their song structures on Colours to be honest, but Colours will always be my personal favourite of theirs, but after a first listen of this, I may be wrong.

I've heard that their is a follow up e.p. or album to this, and to be honest I can't wait, cause this really suprised me...as all of their releases do...damn tricky technical metalheads.

1. Specular Reflection - THE PROGGY ASTRAL ROLLERCOASTER. Very chaotic, yet their is a sense of orderliness about it. Full of never ending exciting twists and turns. You can hear a progression in Tommy's vocals, showing alot more experimental moments...making their future releases really interesting to hear what he will do more with his vocals. Great chorus. 10/10

2. Augment Of Rebirth - THE CHAOTIC SPORADIC MOMENT - Probabbly my favourite song on the ep. Again very chaotic with alot of mood and tempo changes. Great lyrics. The technical ability is flawless and pheonomonal. I love the dark and atmospheric ending. 10/10

3. Lunar Wilderness - THE CALM BEFORE THE DARK STORM - Starts off very calm and turns into a dark beast of a song. Again very chaotic, and quite beautiful in an odd and sick way. 10/10

CONCLUSION: It's just perfect really, and for a first listen...this doesn't happen alot to albums I listen to.