Between the Buried and Me-The Blue Nowhere-Album Review

Brett Parmenter/ParMetal Media and The Metal Pit

How does one even start to describe an album by Between the Buried and Me? Their music is synonymous with nothing. They have crafted and kept their own unique sound, perfected it over 25 years, and the Blue Nowhere is the pinnacle of that divergence. Ten epic songs cover the gamut of musical styles in an offbeat style which only Between the Buried and Me could possibly compile on a single album. I am constantly scratching my head, asking myself, “How the fuck do they remember every nook and cranny of each of these enigmatic songs?”

To a simpleton like me, the feat of recalling that technicality, song after song, is simply mystifying. And that, my friends, is why I like it so damn much. Whether there’s singing or screaming, electric or orchestral, soundscape or disco, Between the Buried and Me are such an intriguing band to listen to, that quite honestly, they could all stand there and fart the alphabet for all I care, I know they would take it and make an instrumental work of art.

Therein lies the allure of Between the Buried and Me and the utter chaos of The Blue Nowhere.

Sometimes I think to myself that there is nothing that I could write that would do justice to the music I’m listening to, and in this case, I’m thinking exactly that. Random sounds, prolific drumming, and I don’t say that lightly, mind bending guitar and just about every other instrument you can think of, which can pop up at any given time, makes this an album of surprise and mayhem.

Absent Thereafter, the 3rd song on The Blue Nowhere, is a 10.5-minute song that takes you to every conceivable edge of the musical galaxy. That song alone is worth the price of the album. Frenzied at times and utterly blissful during others. Trust me when I say, you don’t know where this album is going from one second to the next. Misdirection, Between the Buried and Me’s magical musicianship is the pillar of The Blue Nowhere.

Psychomanteum, song 7, at 11 minutes long, is heavier than Absent Thereafter, venomous and inventive. The attention to every last detail makes this 11-minute song seem to fly by in just a few minutes, bending time and space as it does so. What a fucking song! Holy shit, what a song!

Psychomanteum is followed up by another 11-minute song, Slow Paranoia. The name says it all, almost circus like at times, you could literally lose yourself in this song. Another of those songs that takes one extreme and takes it to its antithesis. There’s certainly a bit of everything in the expansive 10 plus minute songs.

The title song, The Blue Nowhere, is actually more of a straight down the line kind of song. That by itself took me by surprise. Unexpected normality. Weird, right? But that’s where The Blue Nowhere takes you as a whole. You don’t know which direction Between the Buried and Me will take you to from one second to the next. That’s the majesty and marvel of music.

All up, if you are a fan of Between the Buried and Me you are going to love this album. The Blue Nowhere is a fascinating frolic into the human psyche, where some songs even refer to other songs on the album in this mixed-up melody of madness that’s not to be missed. If you’re not, give it a go, I’m sure it’ll win you over as Between the Buried and Me’s previous albums did to me.

I think I’ve done my best as far as finding the words to try and describe The Blue Nowhere, so, as far as a score goes, for technicality, I’ll give the album a 5/5 because it mindfucked me to the point cranial explosion. All up I think a 4.5/5 is fair. I just wonder why they dropped the mindfuckedness for the final 2 songs? They are great, don’t get me wrong, but I just ask myself, why? It’s all part of the cryptic mystery of Between the Buried and Me, I guess.