by Steve Joyce
I don’t know about you, but every five or ten years or so, an album is released that not only reaffirms my love of progressive music, it completely redefines my attitude towards it. An album so fresh, exciting and impactful that it feels like my musical universe has been forever altered, expanded and enhanced.
For me, this is a lineage that takes in Pink Floyd’s “The Wall”, Marillion’s “Fugazi”, “Images and Words” by Dream Theater, “Stupid Dream” by Porcupine Tree, Opeth’s “Blackwater Park”, Neal Morse’s “One” and “The Mountain” by Haken. All albums that are so utterly exhilarating and unlike anything I’d heard before, and guaranteed to be returned to repeatedly for many years to come.
I now place “The Blue Nowhere”, the 11th studio album by US ‘progressive metalcore’ band Between the Buried and Me, firmly in this sequence of truly seminal, ground-breaking records that not only delight and satisfy in every conceivable way, musically at least, but totally raise the bar for everyone else.
Formed in 2000, BTBAM’s line up is Tommy Rogers (vocals/keys), Paul Waggoner (guitars), Dan Briggs (bass/keys) and Blake Richardson (drums/percussion). The four members co-write the music, with Rogers writing the lyrics. The four members have been playing together since 2005 and their musical symbiosis on this album reaches new heights of palpability. The album is crammed with dynamic, virtuoso and tasteful playing.
Featuring 10 songs over its 71 minutes, the album’s titular ‘Blue Nowhere’ is a hotel that provides a setting for a conceptual journey. Says Rogers, “It’s more of a feeling—those moments when you feel alone in the world and you’re reflecting, and in that process you’re finding out new things about yourself and your place in the world. Existing in a space where nobody can find you, as you’re hidden from all forms of reality – that’s The Blue Nowhere.”
And so, there are many moments on the album where you can imagine a tortured soul, alone in a cavernous hotel like Jack Nicholson in ‘The Shining’, experiencing moments of delusion, desperation and despair. The Bates Motel, anyone?
Musically, almost every rock, prog and metal sub-genre is featured, often in the same song, and with the added spice of funk, blues, jazz and bluegrass too. On two tracks, guest musicians contribute strings, brass and woodwind – adding an orchestral distinctiveness to BTBAM’s already extensive musical palette. There’s even a notable performance by Haken drummer Ray Hearne on tuba!
Traditionally, prog album reviews provide a detailed track-by-track description, but I don’t think this is appropriate (or possible!) here. A major joy of this album is discovering its myriad nuggets, subtleties and astonishing surprises – to give all of these away here would take away half the fun.
Suffice it to say, the amount of ideas crammed into each song is ridiculous – but this is no disparate, through-composed jumble. The arrangements may seem chaotic at first, but repeated listens reveal that the songs are cleverly crafted to pack in a musical and lyrical experience like almost no other you’ve heard before.
SPOILER ALERT! Having said that, I can’t resist providing a few teasers. Some of my favourite moments on the album include the funky bass on opener “Things We Tell Ourselves in the Dark”; a pulverising heavy breakdown on “God Terror” complete with disconcerting offbeat click, and the soaring chorus in “Absent Thereafter” and its electrifying double-kick powered bluegrass frenzy!
The short “Mirador Uncoil” is no throwaway interlude with its enjoyable orchestral fun, and there’s a hair-raising moment in “Psychomanteum” when Rogers absolutely wails his “sit with yourself in silence…you can hear electricity” refrain. I loved the contrasts of languid jazz and metal brutality in “Slow Paranoia” and the (relatively) radio-friendly pop goodness of the title song. Album closer “Beautifully Human” provides the mother of all payoffs, with a devastating four note piano riff that cuts to the bone and stays in your head like the brain-hungry ear bug in the movie Star Trek II.
There are dozens of similar (but different!) moments I could have mentioned, and as I say, the adventure of this album is to discover things for yourself.
Eclectic? Some! The sheer breadth of the album’s vision and its execution is mind-blowing. The band’s compositional prowess and musical chemistry is formidable. Everyone in the band demonstrates their versatility to play convincingly in starkly contrasting styles and moods. It’s an album where you will hear new things each and every time you play it – and find yourself simultaneously with goosebumps, headbanging and with a massive grin on your face.
“The Blue Nowhere” is a thrilling adventure and it will take something extraordinary to prevent this from being my favourite album of 2025.
Strap yourselves in – you’re going for a ride!
Released on Sept. 12th, 2025 on InsideOutMusic
https://btbam.lnk.to/TheBlueNowhere-AlbumID
Track listing:
1. Things We Tell Ourselves In The Dark 07:59
2. God Terror 06:41
3. Absent Thereafter 10:28
4. Pause 02:48
5. Door #3 05:58
6. Mirador Uncoil 00:52
7. Psychomanteum 11:12
8. Slow Paranoia 11:28
9. The Blue Nowhere 06:01
10. Beautifully Human 07:52
Between the Buried and Me are:
Tommy Rogers – vocals/keys
Paul Waggoner – guitars
Dan Briggs – bass/keys
Blake Richardson – drums/percussion
Contributors: John Wiseman (trumpet), Walter Fancourt (saxophone, bass clarinet), Baron Thor Young (bassoon), Kate Serbinowski (clarinet), Isabel Aviles (flute), Ger Vang (oboe), Taya Ricker (violin), Carmen Granger (violin), Adam Kramer (viola), Susan Mandel (cello), Ray Hearne (tuba)
