Music Monday: 4/4/11

BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME-THE PARALLAX: HYPERSLEEP DIALOGUES

Alright, awful name not withstanding, everything about BTBAM's latest kicks an almost criminal amount of ass. While their last LP, The Great Misdirect, was 'more focused', it was also 'more boring'. It was a case of 'been there, done that' that plagues far too many lesser bands than BTBAM. Luckily, Hypersleep Dialogues brings them out of that cycle and finds them further refining and pushing the boundaries of their sound. There are plenty of crazy progressive moments as there is with any BTBAM release, but they are met with this time with a surprising amount of restraint and melody. Opener 'Specular Reflection' just might be their best song this side of Colors.

SPECULAR REFLECTION

DEFEATER-TRAVLES

To say that I've been digging Defeater a lot lately would be a gross understatement. In the last week alone, I've listened to them over 80 times and counting. There's something so visceral about not only their brand of melodic hardcore but the strange and fucked up tale that ties their songs together. Travels and their other LP, Endless Days & Sleepless Nights, read like poetry or a good novel: as soon as you're hit with the inevitably 'oh shit' climax and the final note rings out, you immediately want to revisit the world. Travels is, musically, far more narrative than Endless Days which means a variety of things: when the main character confusingly gets out of bed to kill his father, the music is frantic and equally as sporadic and gradually gets its bearings as the character does, etc. It might not sound as pleasing melodically, but I'll be damned if it doesn't give this record a special touch. Here's one of my favorites:

BLESSED BURDEN

Haven't been able to get my hands on too many new tunes so that's it for now. I'm working on getting plenty more