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My life in relation to music mirrors
a multi-stage rocket blasting through the atmosphere. My initial exposure lay
in my dad’s classic rock collection, all Black Sabbath and Deep Purple; my
second dose came in my early teen years with my best friend’s expansive
collection of pop-punk and alternative from the 90’s, while the third wave
broke in high school with my immersion into ska. Up until that point, the
heaviest music on my iPod might have been Mudvayne’s radio-friendly hits, until
a mix CD of hardcore music somehow drifted into my hands. Among others,
engraved on that disc was the guttural and grueling “Autodidact” by Between the
Buried & Me, the first song I’d ever heard that truly scared me. Its
squealing pinch harmonics, throaty screams, and thundering blast beats were
unlike anything I’d ever heard, and urged me to delve deeper into the darkness
of hardcore. After only a few weeks, BTBAM’s Alaska found its way into my car stereo, kicking off the fourth
stage of my musical ascent.
Naturally, the initial terror I felt
in sampling this band was only magnified when I began to listen to the full record;
however, I quickly learned that this band could reach both brutality and beauty.
Alaska features a broad spectrum of
sounds, showcasing both this band’s unbelievable technical skills and their
diverse approach to composition. Complicated time signature changes abound on
the record, but Between the Buried & Me glides through them with ease,
alternating between 3/4 and 4/4 in “All Bodies” and “The Primer” and trudging
through a slowly collapsing 7/4 section in “Roboturner.” Paul Waggoner and
Dustie Waring prove themselves as free-range guitarists, chugging and sweeping
through “The Primer,” fiddling with syncopated madness in “Autodidact,” and
fingerpicking and comping along the Latin-tinged “Laser Speed.” Blake
Richardson hammers his drums in impulsive blast beats before dumping the clutch
into low gear grooves, all four limbs flavoring each tune with improvisational
syncope hits. Even the vocal spectrum is explored, as Tommy Rogers drops into
deep and unintelligible growls in tunes like “Croakies and Boat Shoes,” only to
amaze with gentle and spirited melodies such as in “Selkies: An Endless
Obsession.” Being the first full-band writing effort for BTBAM,[1]
Alaska seems to dip into every genre
available, all while maintaining the band’s unique voice. Though much of their
music spelunks in the abyss of deathcore, the spread of sounds, feels, and
energies on this record proves that for Between the Buried & Me, genre
labels hardly dictate behavior.
The
heavy nature of death metal is perhaps universally defined by three things:
detuned guitars, bullet train drumming, and gruff screams shaped at the very
bottom of the lungs. Often, virtually no room is left for basswork in such a
formula (especially since guitar tunings regularly reflect drop C or lower,
making a bass all but unnecessary); yet, as is their forte, BTBAM refuses to
play into genre stereotypes, and with a weapon in their arsenal like Dan
Briggs, it is obvious they made the right choice. Rather than drowning in the
noise, Briggs lays down a heavy foundation with mosaic, jazzy lines, building
on each successive rhythmic idea like the strata of a canyon wall, filling any
available spotlight with sick tone and incredible finesse without outshining
the rest of the band.
One tune in which the bass shatters the mold is the
certifiable “Roboturner,” a seven-minute onslaught of distortion and screams. Though
perhaps as metal as it gets on this record, the star of “Roboturner” is undeniably
Briggs, who slips through all the chugs with complicated walking lines that run
the entire length of the song, not to mention a groove composed of chords and
even a short sweep. The tune jumps between tempos and time signatures before
finally crashing into the last suite, a 7/8 trudge introduced, of course, by
Brigg’s overdrive-soaked thumping. The suite trudges on, slowly decreasing in
tempo, before being swept back into the groove of chords and runs that leads
“Roboturner” to its banging conclusion. Briggs dominates the composition on
this piece, making damn sure that every listener knows that, though Alaska may fall under the deathcore
label, the seventh track unequivocally belongs to the bass.
If
Alaska is any example, Between the
Buried & Me is a group that loves music enough to approach it with both
heart and mind, and at the helm of this titanic stands Tommy Rogers, whose
lyrical and vocal contributions shape the tone of the record’s though
processes. Rogers seems to approach his lyrics from multiple standpoints,
sometimes serious and accusatory: “Selkies: An Endless Obsession” criticize the
capitalization of love and art with lines like “Market this change / exploit
this idea of innocence,”[2]
while “Croakies and Boat Shoes” attacks the faultless and condescending
attitude synonymous of the “suburban elite.”[3]
But despite the sinister tone of the music, Rogers also shows his humorous side
through his writing, using the title track to explore insomnia and its effects
with quips like “I’m fucking delirious right now…Not the best time for lyrics I
suppose.”[4]
Rogers presents a variety of tones and attitudes in his lyrics; however, he
unfortunately slips into the cliché drawback of fronting a hardcore band where
those lyrics are all but lost in his delivery. Alaska is loaded with both powerful singing and violent screaming,
but the latter, being Rogers’ preferred method, completely drowns his poetic
and literary senses in favor of intensity. Though his performance is quite
spectacular in both realms of vocalization, the ratio of sing:scream
unfortunately keeps much of his lyrics from being deciphered or understood.
As
is the rub with all technical musicians, much of the composition of Alaska, being both complicated and
theory-based, runs the risk of erasing the emotional and human imprint of the
performers. Many listeners find themselves unable to connect with music that
has been dissected like a dead frog; diminished chords, tritones, and shifting
tempos, while being interesting intellectual ideas, ring dissonantly in the
ears of a non-musician. Truth be told, although there a lot of great ideas at
play, between tremolo picking and quadruple kicks on the bass drum, some of Alaska devolves into pure noise. Chord
progressions are lost in babbling tempos, taking significance they might have
imparted into the abyss. However, unlike their colleagues, Between the Buried
& Me refuse to stick to one formula or sound, peppering otherwise hectic
compositions with moments of beauty. They even reserve three instrumental tracks
to showcase their diverse and human sides, allowing the listener to find a
foothold in tunes such as “Medicine Wheel” or “Laser Speed,” before diving into
the dark waters of “Alaska” or “The Primer.”
Because
of this band’s dichotomous approach to their music, reserving moments for both
technicality and luminosity, perhaps the most diverse song on this record is
one that juxtaposes both. “Backwards Marathon,” Alaska’s longest composition, literally explodes into existence
with headbanging rhythmic riff that would make most metalheads lose their cool.
The song only gets heavier, sliding downhill into rhythmic chugs and sweeps
like a house into a sinkhole. The instrumentation holds onto this anger for
almost half the song, until suddenly falling into a gorgeous bridge, a
repeating cycle of 5/4 and 6/4, championed by an innocent bass riff. Rogers’
chant of “It’s raining”[5]
perfectly captures the gentle shape of this new section, whose gentle guitars
and tingling ride cymbal create the image of the lightest of drizzles. The
sheer magnificence of this section completely contrasts with the lunacy that
preceded it, until, after culminating in a high and powerful vocal note, it
explodes back into the intro riff, only to conclude in a heavy yet charming
outro. “Backwards Marathon” is BTBAM’s treaty with the listener, a complex and
delicious mix of both their technical musicianship and their soulful
creativity.
Though
perhaps not the most accessible record, Alaska
blends a myriad of genres and focuses them through the talented prism that is
Between the Buried & Me. These musicians ostensibly know what they’re doing
when it comes to music, and such a truth assures any listener music that is
both complete and thought-provoking. Furthermore, this band compromises none of
its vision or ability for anyone—Between the Buried & Me is making exactly the music it wants to, refusing
to play into genre standards or stereotypes or to settle for less. “We don’t
ever want money to get in the way of what we are doing,” says Rogers. “We just
want to make the music we love.”[6]
There is no illusion or compromise in their art, only five guys having a damn
good time jamming together, and such honesty is what urged me to explore the
word of hardcore, and what has kept me digging to this day.
Tunes to Check Out:
1) Backwards Marathon
2) Selkies: An Endless Obsession
3) Roboturner
Tunes to Check Out:
1) Backwards Marathon
2) Selkies: An Endless Obsession
3) Roboturner
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