Between The Buried And Me - Automata I (2018, Prog Metal)
- Thread starter Mwoit
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justin_time
has terrible gear
Just a FYI that the guitar tab book for Automata I is now in lulu.com, and bass tab books for both Automata I and II
Albake21
Ibanez Nerd
But the question is, is that a good thing or a bad thing?
GunpointMetal
Well-Known Member
Anyone "doing Dream Theater" is a bad thing.
Often even Dream Theater
GunpointMetal
Well-Known Member
Usually including Dream Theater...
Haven't tried Automata yet but "BtBaM does Dream Theatre" was how I felt about Coma Ecliptic.
chewpac
working up to 7...
The DT influence was serious on Coma. Lots of Opeth, too. But I love Coma.
I’m really enjoying Automata, too. I enjoy listening to it as a whole much more than just one EP at a time.
Automata has a lot of grooving going on. Still don't care much for the interlude tracks, but I basically hate every interlude track ever from any band.
BTBAM and The Dear Hunter are similarly crushing the modern prog scene. Their split EP covers were excellent together.
BTBAM and The Dear Hunter are similarly crushing the modern prog scene. Their split EP covers were excellent together.
Shoeless_jose
Well-Known Member
Coma felt very rock opera ish to me, almost like queen meets prog metal.
I haven't listened to Automata I very much yet but liked what I heard, will have to listen to them both back to back this week.
I haven't listened to Automata I very much yet but liked what I heard, will have to listen to them both back to back this week.
Voice of Trespass is a damn ska song.
Otherwise Automata II is alright. The Proverbial Bellow is a pretty neat tune.
Otherwise Automata II is alright. The Proverbial Bellow is a pretty neat tune.
mikah912
Well-Known Member
Where are y'all getting the ska from on "Voice of Trespass"? There's zero "skanking" guitar, and the horns are mostly texture or supporting the melody that the rest of the instruments are playing. There are definitely echoes of ragtime/big band jazz for the first three and half minutes, but ska?!??
Exchanger
Well-Known Member
So far I really like A1, gave A2 a spin and thought there were some really cool moments. Maybe they took it a bit too far with the crossovers like the musette accordion bit and the gipsy swing...but hey that's the kind og extravaganza I dig from other bands so no complaints here. The ending track is a serious contender to the Goodbye to Everything reprise / outro.
I really want to but I somehow can't get into TDH, I suppose it's too "cheerful" for me (eventhough it's not exactly bursting with happiness). But they are clearly great musicians, and that double cover was s-weeeet
I really want to but I somehow can't get into TDH, I suppose it's too "cheerful" for me (eventhough it's not exactly bursting with happiness). But they are clearly great musicians, and that double cover was s-weeeet
Listened to almost their entire catalogue (yeah I take my time in formulating opinions lol), and I still can't get into them. I liked Coma for the "lighter", opera rock-ish ideas and Parallax II for the more aggressive side of things, but I can't pick out a single song or even riff I could say I really really like and would listen on repeat. It just feels like endless jamming to me.
They always give me this "the bad part of Dream Theater, now with blast beats" vibe (which doesn't help since I used to love DT as a kid and now hate them), and above all a very incohesive and inconclusive songwriting. Their approach also always feels like "yeah, let's throw everything possible into the arrangement at once, so we can act like we're intellectuals and have something to prove". Dunno, not my thing personally. And I'm still giving them chances.
Anyone else feels this way? Just asking.
They always give me this "the bad part of Dream Theater, now with blast beats" vibe (which doesn't help since I used to love DT as a kid and now hate them), and above all a very incohesive and inconclusive songwriting. Their approach also always feels like "yeah, let's throw everything possible into the arrangement at once, so we can act like we're intellectuals and have something to prove". Dunno, not my thing personally. And I'm still giving them chances.
Anyone else feels this way? Just asking.
To me, this reads like projection.
Even though I myself am not a fan of anything after Great Misdirect, and I feel that the way you're describing them really only applies to post Great Misdirect releases, I don't think there's any basis for your assumption that the writing is contrived so as to appear 'intellectual'...
Well ofc that was a metaphor.
I mean to say they, to me, put a lot of arrangement filler and incohesive parts (like other-genre instrumental breaks of of nowhere, usually at a start-stop section) which don't actually serve the song nor add up to anything. Just feels pretentious to me since it doesn't make much sense songwriting-wise. All strictly IMHO of course.
TGM is maybe the only record I have left to check out. If you say it's more cohesive, I'll try giving it a spin.
I mean to say they, to me, put a lot of arrangement filler and incohesive parts (like other-genre instrumental breaks of of nowhere, usually at a start-stop section) which don't actually serve the song nor add up to anything. Just feels pretentious to me since it doesn't make much sense songwriting-wise. All strictly IMHO of course.
TGM is maybe the only record I have left to check out. If you say it's more cohesive, I'll try giving it a spin.
JoeyJoJoJrShabadoo
Well-Known Member
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TGM is my favourite BTBAM. I understand you criticisms of modern BTBAM and agree on a level. I feel Coma Ecliptic was much more balanced and seems a lot more linear than Parallax, so I connected with it a lot compared to Parallax. I don't feel like I've given Automata enough ear time to comment on that justly. I feel TGM hits a similar level of cohesion as Coma while also breaking off into different but still interesting styles. Coma was never uninteresting to me, but I felt TGM did it better. They also dipped into recurring parts/themes much more than they did with Colors, and as much as I love Colors, it does feel a bit riff-soup-y at points. Personally, I think TGM is BTBAM at their best. Disease, Injury, Madness is potentially my favourite song they've ever written.
The build up and breakdown in White Walls is super excellent
Lorcan Ward
7slinger
I feel like it's hit and then miss with BTBAM recently.
Really liked The Great Misdirect
Didn't like Parallax
Loved Coma Ecliptica
Didn't like Automata 1
No surprise but I really like Automata II. It feels really incomplete though, no idea why they didn't just take the strongest bits from both albums and make one really good one.
Really liked The Great Misdirect
Didn't like Parallax
Loved Coma Ecliptica
Didn't like Automata 1
No surprise but I really like Automata II. It feels really incomplete though, no idea why they didn't just take the strongest bits from both albums and make one really good one.
GunpointMetal
Well-Known Member
Because two things for $14.99/each is better than one thing. (I honestly have no idea how much a CD costs anymore, I buy everything on Bandcamp)
