BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME — The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues (review)

BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME — The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues album cover EP · 2011 · Progressive Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4.5/5 ·
topofsm
With The Great Misdirect a year and a half back, it seems that Between the Buried and Me stumbled upon a gripping story concept worthy of presenting to the world. Wanting to give the fans a taste before the full-blown release comes out, the band threw out part 1 of the concept, in the form of the EP called "The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues". And it was glorious.

In stark contrast to the very melodic Great Misdirect, Hypersleep calls back to their heavy music, mostly reminiscent of the darker and more death metal oriented elements found in Alaska. It mixes this with the more epic songwriting of Colors, to create three long-form songs that stand out, in true BTBAM form, as progressive metalcore milestones.

One thing that can be said about the EP is it is a lot more chaotic than their other releases, especially when compared to their latest output. The opener, "Specular Reflection" starts off with dissonant orchestration until bursting into some bizarrely odd timed metal riffs (using complex times even compared to most BTBAM works). "Augment of Rebirth" starts similarly, with a motif reminiscent of the opening shredding of "Ants of the Sky". Overall, the songs change far more drastically and chaotically than they have in the past.

Of course, the standard BTBAM elements are all here. Tons of off time riffs, dual leads with Paul Waggoner and Dustie playing off each other as smooth as butter. Tommy's vocals transition as per usual between the loud hardcore growling and the very alternative-sounding clean vocals. And, to be expected, there's a few leaps into a couple other genres, though it may be best to leave that as a surprise.

All three tracks work best to build the EP. "Specular Reflection", as stated, starts off with a bang and continues to build and build tension with a wide array of heavy and dissonant riffs punctuated with beautiful clean vocal refrains. "Augment of Rebirth" is similar to the previous song, and builds its tension masterfully, and eventually progresses into some proggy genre-hopping weirdness. "Augment of Rebirth" is hands down one of BTBAM's most gorgeous songs, opening with some beautiful jazzy instrumental interplay, featuring an emotional solo by Waggoner, though this time very calm and introspective, unlike the anthemic or bombastic solos in "Selkies" or "White Walls".

Overall, this EP is a bit of a change of style to the darkest BTBAM available. Lots of chaos, lots of dissonance. There's not as much eclecticism as before, but BTBAM fans will love it regardless. If part two sounds anything like this, we have a lot to look forward too. Highly recommended!
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