by Melody Ryan

Created on: June 18, 2008

Music is something that almost everyone can say they are passionate about in some way. There is already a huge amount of genres out there, satiating the eclectic tastes of millions of people around the world. While some genres fade out of the spotlight, there are always more filling in the spaces. Metal is a genre that is definitely expanding in many different directions rather than fading away. Many metal and hardcore bands have begun fusing other styles of music into the already intense sound.

The particular band I'm going to talk about is my all-time favorite: Between the Buried and Me.

Their newest album Colors is one of the most impressive albums I have ever heard. While they are primarily progressive hardcore/metal, this album shows how Between the Buried and Me has begun to experiment with incorporating other interesting musical styles into their own. Folk, free jazz, and polka are only a few of the interesting genres that appear in this album.
The album itself starts off with a beautiful piano solo on the song "Foam Born (A) The Backtrack." The first track then leads into "(B)The Decade of Statues." At 3:42 on this track, Between the Buried and Me includes a jazzy guitar riff which they then incorporate into their "hardcore" style, inventing an even newer sound. Then again at 4:27, they play an interesting, funky rhythm on the guitar, bass, and drums while the singer screams on top of it. The next track off of the Colors album titled "Informal Gluttony" begins with an exotic drumbeat that is later joined with an Egyptian-sounding guitar riff. These songs are great examples of the way Between the Buried and Me has managed to fuse different types of music into their own. In the song "Prequel to the Sequel," BTBAM manages to make even polka enjoyable. At 5:15, this band unexpectedly places a humorous polka-inspired section that eventually fades back into their powerful and passionate music.

Music like this has not really been in the public eye, and if it was, it would probably not be understood by most; however, I believe more and more artists are going to delve into other musical styles, incorporating them into their own. Many metal and hardcore bands have begun this awesome transition that will hopefully help people to see that metal is not just noise and screaming. Being an avid listener of metal, mathcore, hardcore, etc. I feel that metal is one of the most diverse, beautiful and amazing genres out there. Bands such as Between the Buried and Me show just how much talent, creativity, passion, and beauty goes into the broad genre of "metal."

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