Between The Buried And Me – The Blue Nowhere
Between The Buried And Me – The Blue Nowhere
Inside Out Music
12/09/2025
Review by Oli Gonzalez
6/10
2005. It was a groundbreaking year for music, for me on a personal level and for the wider industry. Bullet For My Valentine forcefully asserted themselves onto the scene with their breakthrough album “The Poison” while Florida’s Trivium were making a similar impact with “Ascendancy”, just to name a very select few. As such, some bands may have slipped under the radar. One of those being Buried The Buried And Me (BTBAM), as they also released arguably their magnum opus, “Colors”. I only came across this album a few months prior to their appearance at this year’s Arctangent festival, as they played this in full. I underestimated the impact this had had on people, as many were singing along and almost drowning out the band at one point! After all, that ferocious blend of complex Progressive Metal and blunt force Metalcore-esque intensity is something very unique in this world of Metal. To see the band perform that in full was a genuine privilege, and now 20 years since the release of “Colors”, BTBAM are about to embark on a new journey with new label Inside Out Music, as they’re on the eve of releasing “Blue Nowhere”. How will this compare to “Colors” or any of the bands work for that matter? With the ringing in my ears just about subsiding from this summer’s festival season, I was eager to find out.
Well, two songs in, and it’s been a journey! I question whether this is actually BTBAM, with the opening to ‘Things We Tell Ourselves In The Dark’ feeling more like a track from a teleshopping channel than a Progressive Death Metal band’s album! ‘God Terror’ brings in an Industrial rave vibe, like that of Static X or Mudvayne. Very different to what I’d expect from the band. I’m not sure where this ride is going and I’m getting anxious!
A bit of stability is provided in the form of ‘Absent Thereafter’ with a more on-brand Progressive Death Metal style number. The drums and bass lay down a solid groove allowing for the guitars and keys to go in a more chaotic direction yet still retaining structure and purpose. Tommy’s growled vocals remain consistently fierce, with some impressive cleans when required. Things slow down in the middle and the pace becomes less frantic, with a blistering lead guitar solo being the highlight of the song! All hope isn’t lost yet after a crazy start. The aptly named ‘Pause’ provides an opportunity to process all this chaos in a much more stripped back and ambient number.
The spirit of “Colors” is still kept alive in ‘Door’ and ‘Psychomanteum’, with the blend of Metalcore and jazz-infused Progressive Metal elements being more on brand for BTBAM again and aesthetically pleasing. By god though, these songs are long! It feels like a commitment to get through those sailing north of 10 minutes…and it shouldn’t! Which is why my attention wanders elsewhere during ‘Slow Paranoia’ as random bursts of Progressive Metal are spewed out seemingly at random. As opposed to ‘Beautifully Human’, when ideas are given sufficient time to grow and mature naturally and the slow build towards the song’s crescendo feels worth the investment.
Overall, a bit of a mixed reaction to this. Some songs feel like they’re just thrown together hapzardly whereas some have clearly been given more thought. Definitely not BTBAM’s strongest work. Now time to cleanse my soul with a listen to “Colors”…
TRACKLISTING:
01. Things We Tell Ourselves In The Dark
02. God Terror
03. Absent Thereafter
04. Pause
05. Door
06. Mirador Uncoil
07. Psychomanteum
08. Slow Paranoia
09. The Blue Nowhere
10. Beautifully Human
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