March 2026 Featured Release - The Infinite Edition
This months featured release for the Infinite comes from a band that has spent its time weaving in and out of the Progressive and Metalcore scenes in the past. This record is solely in the Infinite and more avant-garde than anything the band has released before. Please enjoy Between the Buried and Me's late era gem, The Blue Nowhere.
https://btbam.bandcamp.com/album/the-blue-nowhere-24-bit-hd-audio
https://open.spotify.com/album/7qy9gnX5SXAeW9fO6pzwTh
Between the Buried and Me - The Blue Nowhere
This one is a bit lost on me I am afraid. Not being progs biggest fan to start with, I took a risk giving this one a full run through really. It is all over the place to my ears and the sense of frustration only seems to grow as when they do occasionally settle into some semblance of flow it can be quite interesting. I am leaving this one well alone.
An excellent but familiar comeback for these progressive trailblazers! Here's my review summary:
If you thought Colors II was the most anticipated BTBAM album, that would then be surpassed by this one, The Blue Nowhere! The album came out last September after a long 4-year interval. It is partly due to their separation from longtime rhythm guitarist Dustie Waring. For this album, The Blue Nowhere, founding lead guitarist Paul Waggoner performed all the guitarwork by himself. It takes a real music examiner to tell the difference between Waggoner's rhythm guitar playing and that of Waring. Either way, although there can be some slight predictability that made me burned out of BTBAM in the first place a few years ago, we have another terrific display of the band's deathly progressive metal/rock and conceptual tendencies that they had since Colors. The album is set in the eponymously titled hotel The Blue Nowhere. It dives into existential quandaries in a more abstract form of storytelling, sung and growled by vocalist/keyboardist Tommy Rogers, and taking on thoughts that range from fleeting to chaotic. They're not about the story, but rather about the feeling. As you listen, you can imagine yourself in your own world away from reality, one that only you and no one else would know. The tracks here are some of their most enjoyable in years. Sometimes they follow the heaviness of the two Colors albums, and other times the wackiness of the albums in between. All of this is best displayed in the three 11-minute epics, plus a two-track closing suite. However, a little more originality would've been ideal to make this album 100% percent and get me back onboard the BTBAM train. Nonetheless, they still have their triumph. I don't know what will come next for them, but I can't wait!
4.5/5