Bands I've Always Wanted to Get Into: Between the Buried and Me

As someone who has been an active listener within the independent music scene, naturally over the years I've become familiar with dozens of bands that I don't know a lot about. Dozens of bands that I've been exposed to in small doses, I hear tons of people hyping, and yet I'm sad to announce that I know next to nothing about these bands. One of these bands is Between the Buried and Me.
I saw them live in 2005 with Haste the Day, Bleeding Through and Every Time I Die. Which, looking back, is a really interesting line-up that I should have been far more prepared for. My buddy and I were actually only there for Haste the Day, which would end up being one of the final tours with their original singer Jimmy Ryan. I didn't actually know any of the bands at the time, but I have since familiarized myself with Bleeding Through and Every Time I Die.

Within a few months of this show, someone gave me a copy of Alaska and I only got about 30 seconds into it. When I saw them live they were not this heavy or this death metal-y, and to this day I question whether or not they had a different vocalist or if I confused them for a different band. Either way, what I was hearing on my stereo was far heavier than anything I was listening to at the time, and I gave up immediately. But in the last six years (a) my music tastes have broadened and (b) it's now my understanding that Between the Buried and Me are not all death metal all the time.

So I think 2011 will be the year I give these guys a fair chance. It's my ultimate goal to at least have an appreciation for as many bands as I possibly can, but not necessarily fall in love with and wear a shirt from them. I think it's about time I finally man-up and buy an album from them.

It looks like they have a pretty sweet EP coming out next month titled The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues (so prog). I've listened to the sample for "Specular Reflection" which I'm happy to report that I enjoyed. It's officially the longest duration of recorded BTBAM I've ever listened to, and interestingly enough, at six minutes it's only half the song.

After the EP, maybe I'll check out this Colors album that everyone won't shut up about. Jesus Christ. Or maybe their greatest hits album would be a better introduction? It looks like Victory is just trying to milk them for dollars one last time now that they're gone, but it's still a legitimate purchase for a newcomer like me.