Biography All Music GuideWikipedia
Group Members: Jason Roe
All Music Guide:
Between the Buried and Me is a thinking man's hardcore unit hailing from Raleigh, North Carolina. The band began in 2000 after the dissolution of vocalist Tommy Rogers and guitarist Paul Waggoner's previous group, Prayer for Cleansing. Rogers and Waggoner completed their new lineup with the addition of guitarist Nick Fletcher, bassist Jason King (ex-Azazel), and drummer Mark Castillo, formerly of Bury Your Dead. An eponymous debut soon appeared, issued through the German indie Lifeforce, and the band supported its release with an avid tour schedule. Between the Buried and Me signed with Chicago hardcore powerhouse Victory in the summer of 2002 and began work on their debut for the label. The Silent Circus appeared in late October of the following year and showcased a more focused fusion of the group's math rock, heavy metal, and post-hardcore influences.
Several lineup changes ensued that saw Rogers and Waggoner being rounded out by guitarist Dusty Waring, bassist Dan Briggs, and drummer Blake Richardson. Joining forces with producer Jamie King, who had recorded their self-titled effort, Between the Buried and Me released Alaska in September 2005. Various tour dates with the Dillinger Escape Plan, Every Time I Die, Bleeding Through, and Haste the Day followed. The band next paid tribute to many of their influences -- from Pantera to Queen to Pink Floyd -- on the covers album The Anatomy Of, which surfaced in June 2006, before hitting the road on a subsequent headlining tour. That fall, Victory reissued The Silent Circus with an additional bonus DVD of material. In 2007, they went to the studio with producer Jamie King and recorded Colors, which was released that September through Victory Records and described as "new wave polka grunge" by the band. The Great Misdirect, the band's fifth studio album, appeared two years later. Victory put out a Between the Buried and Me greatest-hits album in 2011, just weeks before the band released their first EP on Metal Blade, The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues, the first entry in a two-part concept album. The second part, The Parallax II: Future Sequence, followed in 2012.
Wikipedia:
Between the Buried and Me are an American progressive metal band from North Carolina. They have released a total of six studio albums, as well as an EP, a cover album, and a live DVD/CD. Their first album was released through Life Force records, and after that the majority of the group's releases were made through Victory Records, until their shift to Metal Blade in 2011 when they released their first EP, The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues through the label on April 12, 2011. Their most recent effort, The Parallax II: Future Sequence was released on October 9, 2012.
Biography [edit]
Between the Buried and Me was founded in 2000 in Raleigh, North Carolina by vocalist Thomas Giles Rogers Jr., guitarist Paul Waggoner, drummer Will Goodyear, guitarist Nick Fletcher (formerly of Empire Falls), and bassist Jason King. The band's name is derived from a section of lyrics in the Counting Crows song, "Ghost Train;" "Took the cannonball down to the ocean/Across the desert from the sea to shining sea/I rode a ladder that climbed across the nation/Fifty million feet of earth between the buried and me."
Between the Buried and Me's first release was a three-song demo, containing the tracks "Use of a Weapon", "What We Have Become", and "More of Myself to Kill". These three tracks were re-recorded for the band's self-titled debut album, released through Lifeforce Records in 2002. The album includes the track "Arsonist", a protest against the beliefs and practices of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. The song "Aspirations" became the band's first music video. At the time, the release was not widely known, but did manage to catch the attention of Victory Records, to which they later signed. Victory reissued the album in 2004 as an enhanced CD.
In 2003, the band released their second studio album, The Silent Circus, featuring the singles "Mordecai", "Aesthetic", and "Camilla Rhodes". "Mordecai" was produced as their second music video. The album was re-released in 2006 with a live DVD of the band's performance at The Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on July 17, 2005. Mark Castillo played drums on The Silent Circus, replacing Will Goodyear, though for the live DVD Blake Richardson, Dustie Waring, and Dan Briggs had already joined the band, and recording for the third Between the Buried and Me album, Alaska, was already finished.
After the release of The Silent Circus, the band went through numerous members before the current lineup was assembled for Alaska. On drums, Mark Castillo was replaced by Jason Roe, and later by Blake Richardson. On guitar, Nick Fletcher was replaced by Shane Blay, and later by Dustie Waring. And on bass, Jason King (not to be confused with their engineer/producer Jamie King) was replaced by Kevin Falk, and later by Dan Briggs. This remains the current lineup.
In the summer of 2005, Between the Buried and Me released their third studio album, Alaska. The title track "Alaska" became their third music video. The album released the songs "Selkies: The Endless Obsession", "The Primer", and "Backwards Marathon" as singles. Then in the following year, the band released The Anatomy Of, a collection of covers of bands that influenced Between the Buried and Me, including Metallica, King Crimson, Pantera, Queen, Pink Floyd, Earth Crisis, Counting Crows, and Soundgarden.
In September 2007, the band released their fourth studio album, Colors. Band members have said that "it's a 65 minute opus of non stop pummeling beautiful music... we have described this release as 'new wave polka grunge'." The band has also described the album as "adult contemporary progressive death metal".
On November 6, 2008 the song "Prequel to the Sequel" was made available as downloadable content for the video game Rock Band 2, for free download to users who redeemed a one-time use code in new copies of the game. Since then, the tracks "Mordecai", "Obfuscation", "Alaska", "Selkies: The Endless Obsession" and "All Bodies" have also been made available via the Rock Band Network.
On May 31, 2009, the group went into the studio to record their fifth original album, The Great Misdirect. They have described one song as having "a noisy Coalesce breakdown, 3/4 Mastodon groove, 9/8 The Mars Volta, Queen chromatic build up, and Megadeth chorus". Tommy Giles Rogers had stated that they planned to "out do Colors".
In early fall 2010, the group confirmed that they were recording an EP, which was cited as being a possible precursor for their next full-length album. In October 2010, they put up a video on their YouTube account with the band in the studio. January 18 a second teaser with them in the studio was posted.
On February 21, 2011, Between the Buried and Me stated their move from Victory to Metal Blade Records, then quickly released an EP entitled, The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues on April 12, 2011. In May, Victory Records announced the release of a greatest hits album as a three-disc set. On January 16, 2012, Between the Buried and Me revealed that work on the part two to The Parallax has begun and it will be a full-length album rather than an EP.
The band's latest album, "The Parallax II: Future Sequence", was released through Metal Blade Records on October 9, 2012.
Touring [edit]
In early 2006, Between the Buried and Me was on tour supporting Bleeding Through along with Every Time I Die and Haste the Day. They were also on the Ozzfest 2006 Second Stage. In late 2006, they were on the Radio Rebellion Tour headlined by Norma Jean.
In September 2007, after the release of Colors, the band went on tour with Animosity and Horse the Band. Giant (now known as BraveYoung) also supported their shows in the USA. The run concluded with their November 4 appearance at the Saints and Sinners Fest in Asbury Park, New Jersey. In December 2007, they again embarked on a headlining tour, supported by August Burns Red and Behold... The Arctopus. The band were also the main support on The Dillinger Escape Plan's 2008 UK tour. Between the Buried and Me were one of the acts that took part at "Progressive Nation '08", the first in what became an annual progressive music festival, also featuring Dream Theater, Opeth, and .
Starting in summer 2008 and continuing in the fall, they performed as a supporting act for Children of Bodom's US headlining tour, alongside The Black Dahlia Murder. In early December 2008, they went on a short 4-show tour around the Carolinas and Georgia (US) with other Carolina-based bands, such as He Is Legend, Advent, and Nightbear. Between the Buried and Me finished a month-long tour of Australia on January 9 with headliners Bleeding Through, As Blood Runs Black, In Trenches and The Abandonment. In September 2009, Between the Buried and Me performed a Canadian Tour with Killswitch Engage and In Flames co-headlining, along with the support of Protest the Hero.
In early 2010, Between the Buried and Me toured across North America with Cynic, Devin Townsend, and Scale the Summit. Afterwards, they traveled to Europe supporting Lamb of God, along with Job for a Cowboy and August Burns Red.
In February 2010, Between the Buried and Me supported Mastodon along with Baroness on their US headlining tour. During the summer of 2010, they were on the Cool Tour with As I Lay Dying, Underoath, War of Ages, The Acacia Strain, Architects, Cancer Bats and Blessthefall.
In February 2011, Between the Buried and Me were confirmed to play at the New England Metal & Hardcore Festival on Saturday, April 16 in Worcester, MA. They will be main support for Hatebreed. In April and May 2011 they will headline a tour featuring Job for a Cowboy, The Ocean and on select dates Cephalic Carnage.
Between the Buried and Me also announced a headline European tour beginning in Paris, France on 02 Sept 2011 and continuing throughout the mainland and into the UK, ending up in Moscow, Russia on September 30. The tour was be supported by Animals as Leaders.
In July 2011, Between the Buried and Me announced their headlining North American tour, "Saints&Sinners Tour" playing throughout November and December with Animals as Leaders and Tesseract. The band created a few medleys just for this tour, and performed songs that they hadn't played in years.
They co-headlined the 2012 Summer Slaughter under Cannibal Corpse with numerous other metal bands such as Exhumed, Job for a Cowboy, The Faceless and Veil of Maya, followed by a co-headlining tour through Europe and UK with Periphery and The Safety Fire.
They also to toured Japan and Australia with Animals as Leaders in November 2012.
Starting in February 2013, they toured with Coheed and Cambria
They will embark on a tour this fall in support of their latest album, where they will play Future Sequence from beginning to end without any single pause.
Musical style and influence [edit]
Between the Buried and Me's general musical style has been stated by critics to be primarily a blend of progressive metal and death metal, along with various musical styles: "One minute the band may be playing thrash metal and the next they're flowing into death metal growls and thick guitar riffs... the metal take on things can seemingly change in a flash as lead singer Tommy Rogers flashes out his vocals and utilizes the keyboards to create something that sounds more like it should be on a Smashing Pumpkins album".
On the band's cover album, The Anatomy Of, the band pays tribute to many of their diverse influences, including Metallica, Mötley Crüe, Queen, King Crimson, Soundgarden, Faith No More, Pantera, Pink Floyd, Earth Crisis, and The Smashing Pumpkins.
