Ever since Alaska’s release back in 2005, Between the Buried and Me have been on a steady upward trajectory; Colors is an album that has defined how many progressive/technical metal bands since the mid-2000s approach songwriting and incorporating non-metal influences. Aside from the fittingly titled The Great Misdirect – which begged the question “How much is too much?” and felt far too scattered for its own good – BTBAM have had a solid discography, and, in the past few years, have thrown off the metalcore shackles that defined their first few albums. They are the darlings of young metal fans for their unrivaled technical prowess, adventurous songwriting, and lofty concepts that inform Tommy Rogers’ lyrics. Coma Ecliptic, for fans of the band, will be another stellar entry to the band’s discography; they continue to move toward a more progressive rock-based sound, with notable influence from Queen, Pink Floyd, Rush, and King Crimson, while the heavy parts become more sophisticated and dazzlingly technical.
So what’s my beef with this album?
Coma Ecliptic, much like any BTBAM album, revels in excess: Its near 70-minute running time isn’t just taxing; it also showcases the same fault the band has had for several years now: namely, the progressive and jazz-influenced sections are far more interesting than their hashed-out, noodly tech metal riffs. While I commend the band for stretching their legs into “rock opera” territory and sounding far more focused here than on the Parallax series and The Great Misdirect, it doesn’t change the fact that this is an album – and indeed, a band – built around pomposity. In the world of Coma Ecliptic, time signatures constantly shift; guitars ascend and descend scales with grandiose solos and finger-tapped moments of shred nirvana; poppy piano melodies and buzzing, ominous synths cascade in and out of the mix; and Rogers’ vocals are layered upon themselves with saccharine, blissful harmonies – just like every other album the band has done. Coma Ecliptic is enjoyable, but as a fellow writer Jacob Frebe put on Twitter not too long ago, it’s like having four consecutive slices of cheesecake – what can you say about the fourth slice that you haven’t already said about the first three slices?
It’s not all bad: “The Coma Machine” is effective from start to finish because its sections are strong and distinct by themselves, leading to a far greater whole. “Turn on the Darkness” is also a winner, with dynamic, well-placed swings from melody to brutality, the technical sections serving as engaging buffers between more direct drives of rhythm, and some of Tommy Rogers’ strongest vocal hooks. The first few minutes of “Famine Wolf” effortlessly blend the band’s dissonant, choppy technical metal with sunny vocal harmonies and guitar acrobatics, but the riff that comes in around 2:00 sounds too familiar for its own good, and Rogers’ vocal switching from clean to scream can’t quite save it. Add that to the contrived, lurching mid-section (roughly four minutes in) with Rogers’ best Mike Patton impression and a generic (if well-executed) sweep picking solo, and the rest of the song is basically a dud, only to be redeemed by the beautiful opening section of “King Redeem – Queen Serene” as a stronger, more cohesive rhythm section propels the song forward. “Rapid Calm” is also a standout for its focus on ambience and subtle polyrhythms building upon each other and Rogers’ strongest vocal performance of Coma Ecliptic.
But when the band misses, they miss big time: The ham-fisted quirkiness of “The Ectopic Stroll” tries to capture the off-kilter urgency that made songs like “Mordecai” so memorable but fails to grab me, as none of its piano-driven sections are sustained long enough to hit home with the listener, and the overall feel of the song is too kitschy and gimmicky to make any real impact. “Dim Ignition” serves little purpose other than an interlude but could have easily been a well-executed experiment, given some more development. Songs like “The Memory Palace” also reveal one of the Between the Buried and Me’s long-standing flaws: The disconnect between Rogers’ dry, mechanical screams, always barked without any kind of inflection or dynamic, and his clean vocals, which have always come off as nasally and forced during the more odd-ball and eccentric sections.
Again, I can’t overstate this: Between the Buried and Me are a very talented group of guys in terms of musicianship, and while their conceptual ambition is also admirable, they leverage their world-class skills to produce what is, essentially, music for musicians who geek out on what other musicians play. As a musician, I can grasp and appreciate what goes into an album like Coma Ecliptic, but it doesn’t change the fact that BTBAM’s formula, though a good one in theory, doesn’t pan out as effectively in the listening experience. All the technical proficiency in the world can’t disguise the fact that there are just too many eggs thrown into the proverbial hand basket, and many of them aren’t executed effectively enough to faze this listener. Coma Ecliptic is a step forward for BTBAM in that it’s more cohesive than their past efforts, but in the grand scheme, that’s like saying the EPA has passed measures to allow only half the amount of chemicals currently being dumped into rivers; it’s still an extraneous amount. After dozens of frustrating listens and trying to deconstruct and reconstruct Coma Ecliptic, I just can’t bring myself to love this album or this band.
Now, who wants a fifth slice of cheesecake?
Rating: 2.5/5
Coma Ecliptic will be out July 8 through Metal Blade Records and is available for pre-order in a variety of formats. You guitar solo-loving people will probably enjoy it far more than I do. Or maybe you’re a masochist.
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