Album Reviews : Between The Buried And Me – The Great Misdirect

The general consensus about ‘Colors’, the band’s last album, seems to be that despite its brilliance it was hampered by awkward transitions and to a lesser extent, bizarre ideas thrown into songs where they just don’t fit. Personally, I quite enjoyed the barn dancing at the end of “Ants of the Sky”, but I can see people’s point. Well, all ya’ll will be happy to know that those problems are gone.

Despite the fact that ‘The Great Misdirect’ is perhaps even more progressive and experimental than its predecessors, it’s organisation far surpasses them. As a whole it has less flow than ‘Colors’. It’s clearly six different songs instead of one long piece cut up into tracks. But within those tracks, everything fits together, and off-the-wall ideas are actually natural parts of the song structures, not just fun additions. “Fossil Genera – A Feed From Cloud Mountain” is a prime example of this. The bouncy circus music that kicks things off is truly quirky, but doesn’t sound like a gimmick or a joke in the slightest. It just sounds more mature.

Apart from the 18 minute closer “Swim to the Moon” which tends to drag on and on and on with a stupid amount of shredding and soloing, there’s definitely no lack of ideas here. The relatively short “Desert Of Song” is a fantastic laid back piece with a slight country tinge and “Disease, Injury, Madness” has some of the most memorable guitar solos from them to date. That song gets me moving every time. “Obfuscation”, the first track to hit the public, doesn’t have the standout moments that the others do but is hard to fault, with some serious groovy bass lines.

The worst thing that Between The Buried And Me could have done was release ‘Colors pt.2’, and thankfully they haven’t done that. ‘The Great Misdirect’ is a very different album, despite the same general sound and production. It’s more creative but also more mature, each track is individual and theyhave more structure than before, and there is a nicer balance of sounds. And as a bonus, Tommy Roger’s vocals have improved tenfold and don’t sound as forced anymore, which is really highlighted on here with the heightened use of clean vocals.

‘The Great Misdirect’ is a spectacular album. The band have once again pushed themselves and any boundaries nearby resulting in something that really isn’t lacking in an department. It’s a bit of a shit that it finishes at its weakest though. 9/10

Band: Between The Buried And Me
Album: The Great Misdirect
Year: 2009
Genre: Progressive Metal/Metalcore
Origin: USA
Label: Victory Records/Stomp
myspace.com/betweentheburiedandme

Track listing:
1. Mirrors
2. Obfuscation
3. Disease, Injury, Madness
4. Fossil Genera – A Feed From Cloud Mountain <- Reviewer’s choice
5. Desert of Song
6. Swim To The Moon