Progressive metal powerhouse Between The Buried And Me have announced their signing with InsideOutMusic. Their eleventh studio album, “The Blue Nowhere“, will be arriving on September 12th through that label. Per an official press release, guitarist Dustie Waring is not listed as a member of the band, nor is he included in the just issued promo photo. Waring has been absent from the outfit since 2023, with a bitter dispute emerging in the wake of his ousting.
As for this new opus, vocalist, etc. Tommy Rogers stated that it, “exists in a world that’s not tied to a storyline. It’s more about a feeling, where the songs live for me.” He went on to describe it as, “journal entries, fleeting and introspective thoughts – chaotic at times, depending on the music.”
The group worked with director Miles Skarin on the album’s first single, “Things We Tell Ourselves In The Dark“, with Skarin himself stating:
“For ‘Things We Tell Ourselves In The Dark,’ we wanted to create the hotel from the album concept and artwork – we 3D-modeled the hotel based on the artwork and began to create shots of it at different times of day. Marigold is a theme across the record, so we have a scene where lots of marigold petals start to cover the hotel. This was quite an intense particle simulation that took 17 hours to process and render.
We also added surreal elements to the video, including infinite hotel corridors and strange
space sequences with the doors to the different rooms in the hotel. We’re really pleased with the final look and hope that everyone enjoys seeing the hotel come to life!”
Rogers added:
“This track emerged from the maniac genius of Dan Briggs. The song deals with the dark cloud that is ego, so I tried to vocally approach it with a different kind of confidence than normal, almost like a pop song… even though it takes you down crazy avenues,you can sit back and sing along.”
The band’s aforementioned bassist Dan Briggs went on to say:
“It’s one of the rare songs I started around the bass and that foundational funky idea, while also maintaining a pretty straightforward melodic idea underneath everything, no matter how dense it got rhythmically. I love when we have arrangements that feel like they have a page turn into another dimension, but I thought it was important for this one to feel really seamless as it moved dynamically. Even when it gets heavy, I thought it’d be fun at the core to still feel like it was Prince’s band playing, keeping it funky.”
As with much of the North Carolinian band’s output, producer Jamie King once again oversaw this new release, with a bonus track set to appear on the deluxe 2-LP + 2-CD edition, as well as bonus instrumentals, alternate artwork and more. Pre-orders are expected to launch tomorrow, June 13th via betweentheburiedandme.com.
“The Blue Nowhere” track listing:
01 – “Things We Tell Ourselves In The Dark”
02 – “God Terror”
03 – “Absent Thereafter”
04 – “Pause”
05 – “Door #3”
06 – “Mirador Uncoil”
07 – “Psychomanteum”
08 – “Slow Paranoia”
09 – “The Blue Nowhere”
10 – “Beautifully Human”
The group will be out this summer for a new round of shows overseas, many of which will be celebrating their 2007 album “Colors“:
07/30 Istanbul, TUR – IF Performance Hall
07/31 Rasnov, ROM – Rockstadt
08/01 Budapest, HUN – Monolit Festivalk
08/02 Vienna, AUT – Szene
08/03 Munich, GER – Free & Easy Festival
08/04 Berlin, GER – Hole 44
08/05 Katowice, POL – MCK
08/06-07 Jaromer, CZE – Brutal Assault Festival
08/09 Kortrijk, BEL – Alcatraz
08/10 Utrecht, NET – Pandora
08/11 Tilburg, NET – 013 Next Stage
08/12 Cologne, GER – Luxor
08/14 Dinkelsbuhl, GER – Summer Breeze
08/15-16 Compton Martin, UK – ArcTanGent Festival
08/17 Carhaix, FRA – Motocultor
