One of progressive metal’s most ground-breaking and innovative artists is unquestionably Between The Buried And Me, who after 15 years as a band continues to push themselves to new dimensions with their songwriting. The newest accomplishment, adding to their vast catalog, is the conceptual, two-part, epic album, Automata, which has Part I officially slated for a March 9th release through Sumerian Records, with Part II to follow this summer.
The first look into this vast undertaking is the video for the album’s aggressive lead track, Condemned to the Gallows, which you can watch here:
Tommy Giles Rogers, Jr. (Lead Vocals, Keyboards) states: ‘Every single week music comes and goes. We can get music instantly and with this luxury, the listener has a hard time sitting down with albums and exploring their every twist and turn. Because of this, we have decided to release our new album in two parts. Our music is dense and our albums are very long, so we want to give people two separate moments to dive in this year and explore new music that we’ve put our entire being into. We hope you enjoy the creation as much as we’ve enjoyed the process.’
Automata I tracklisting:
1. Condemned to the Gallows
2. House Organ
3. Yellow Eyes
4. Millions
5. Gold Distance
6. Blot
Pre-orders for Automata I are available now at http://sumerianmerch.com
About Automata
What if dreams could be broadcast for the purpose of entertainment? Could you consume the innermost thoughts of another person on screen? If you could, what does that say about an attention-starved audience? More importantly, what would become of the dreamer?
Between The Buried and Me pose those questions and more on their two-part eighth full-length and introductory offering for Sumerian Records, Automata.
The North Carolina quintet—Tommy Giles Rogers, Jr. [lead vocals, keyboards], Paul Waggoner [lead and rhythm guitar, backing and lead vocals], Dustie Waring [rhythm and lead guitar], Blake Richardson [drums], and Dan Briggs [bass, keyboards]—explore these themes by personally smashing boundaries once again. Automata marks the band’s first proper double LP-spanning concept. Moreover, they continue to expand their ever-evolving style, upholding a tradition of progression in the process.
‘We never want to repeat ourselves,’ affirms Paul. ‘We’re always trying to do something different, and this album fell right into that sort of pattern. We push ourselves into new places, while retaining our basic sound. Musically, we go somewhere that’s fun and challenging. We never know how it’s going to turn out. These are uncharted waters for us. We’ve never written an entire piece and presented it in separate parts like this.’
‘All of our music should build up to the newest record,” Tommy leaves off. ‘That’s what happens with Automata. You can take little snippets from our past throughout this album. It sounds like Between The Buried And Me, but it’s still new. We hope to keep the music industry on its toes. This is part of doing that.’