Between The Buried And Me at the Glasgow Garage
Between The Buried And Me (BTBAM) are a Progressive Metal band from the United States. Their music is a dynamic combination of the best elements of Metal and Progressive Music, played by five exceptionally gifted musicians. They have played Glasgow a number of times, and clearly command a strong fan following, as shown by the turn out at the Glasgow Garage tonight, and the expectant buzz in the audience. The stage backdrop of a mysterious and imposing cloaked figure alone in a desert, aptly reflects the intriguing and magical nature of the music the band perform.
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The band choose to start the set with one of their most heart wrenching songs Selkies: The Endless Obsession. Played live, it's full of the most wonderful melodies, played with a passion and remarkable feeling, that contrasts with the powerful intensity of the death metal sections, that literally could knock you off your feet in a musical shock wave. An incredible high point to start any live set on!
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Coma Machine, from the new album, begins with a gentle piano introduction, and shows off the band’s compositional abilities. A guitar led section where there is an intricate counterpoint between the rhythm and lead guitar parts, is followed by a very melodic piano and vocals led section which conjures up a vision of the band Queen at their very best. An anthemic vocals led musical part, then leads to a concluding section, with a massive Led Zeppelin style riff, and alternating clean and Death Metal vocals. Fabulous stuff! Astral Body with its rolling rhythm and thrash style cymbal work and spiralling guitars, leading on to section of jazz styled spidery type guitar from guitarist Paul Waggoner, shows the incredible musical versatility of the band live.
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Before commencing a number of further tracks from the new album Coma Ecliptic, vocalist and keyboards player Tommy Rogers shouts out to the audience a heartfelt 'Thanks for having us back!'. Memory Palace from the new album has a really lovely shared vocal between Tommy Rogers and Paul Waggoner, and the stunning John McLaughlin Mahavishnu Orchestra era style guitars, ascending with a grace and a wonderful lightness of touch over the audience. Yet still with the music inhabited by a strong metal drive, coming from the brilliant drumming of Blake Richardson. The tightness of the bands ensemble playing live is a wondrous thing to behold. A lovely melodic instrumental coda leads to the reintroduction of the shared vocals. A completely wonderful performance of a standout new track.
Ants of the Sky, from the classic Colors album, sees some of the audience doing a very strange hybrid of the mosh pit and jigging, to the infectious rhythms of this track. Then oddly the band finish, but the stage lighting stays on and the house lights don't come up. Everyone is understandably expecting an encore. It never arrives, leading to a little discernible booing, though only from a small number of voices. Drummer Blake Richardson starting to dismantle his kit catches the mood, and with a broad smile starts to shake the hands of some of the audience at the front, which retrieves things. A great performance from a great band!
To view all photos taken during this set click here. There are 5 available.