Monday: Between the Buried and Me - Famine Wolf

     Hey kids, it's me again, and once more I've been pretty unproductive for most of this week. This time around I blame a combination of recovery from ingestion of meat and alcohol at last weekend's local rib and beer fest and recovery from a gnarly sinus infection. But of course, you don't really want to hear that kind of shit -- you just want to hear some music, right?

     So: how're you getting on with the new Between the Buried and Me album? I know it's a couple of months old by this point, but I recently had it in my car for maybe a week, so I'm much more familiar with it now than I was then. My somewhat-updated take? How exactly is a rock opera different from a concept album? I'm not complaining about the bands "newish" direction (ie: the rock opera), but as far as I'm concerned, Coma Ecliptic just sounds like a badass Between the Buried and Me album. Their last couple have had underlying concepts, so this one just seems like par for the proggy course.

     There are a bunch of cool tracks and parts on Coma Ecliptic, but your much belated Metal Monday song is "Famine Wolf", because it showcases a number of the different aspects that make up Between the Buried and Me's sound. Have a listen or two, and then maybe you can tell me what's so rock opera about it.

Monday: Between the Buried and Me - The Coma Machine

     I know it hasn't been that long since the last time I posted about a song from Between the Buried and Me's forthcoming Coma Ecliptic, but this is another one of those times when I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't draw your attention to the following.

     Of course, if you're into Between the Buried and Me, you've likely already heard the latest single "The Coma Machine" and seen the accompanying video. But if you've yet to check it out, allow me to recommend that you do, because it seems like the most "rock opera-y" glimpse we've gotten to date into the rock opera that supposedly is Coma Ecliptic.

     There's shades of Queen for sure, and maybe some Dream Theater, and plenty more besides. Coma Ecliptic sounds like it might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's also shaping up to be something pretty epic. Bring on July.

Thursday: Between the Buried and Me - Obfuscation

     Sure, it's Monday out here in the real world, but back in blog town it's Thursday, so let's throw it back with an absolutely epic piece of labyrinthine prog from 2009.

     We're inching closer every day to the summer release of Coma Ecliptic, the latest from prog metal titans Between the Buried and Me, and that's all the excuse I need to feature another selection from their growing catalogue of killer stuff. Your Throwback Thursday song tonight is "Obfuscation" from Between the Buried and Me's 2009 masterpiece The Great Misdirect, a nine-minute monster that has everything you could want, from furious riffing to some of the foundational melodic motifs that are going to crop up elsewhere on The Great Misdirect.

     And that's all saying nothing about the fact that "obfuscation" and its cognates like "obfuscate" are just plain fun. All told, you've basically got a fistful of reasons to revisit this one, and really no reason not to. What are you still doing here again?

Saturday: Dance Gavin Dance - Stroke God, Millionaire

     How was your long weekend? Was it as unproductive as mine was? Now that you've emerged from your ham-and-or-turkey-induced food coma, come join me for yet another lengthy game of catch-up.

     First, a Saturday song. On Friday, I had you check out the first track to be released from Between the Buried and Me's upcoming rock opera Coma Ecliptic. Your Saturday song isn't anywhere near the epic length of "Memory Palace", but it does continue the theme of new and upcoming deliciousness.

     This time it's the second track to be released from the upcoming Dance Gavin Dance record Instant Gratification. "Stroke God, Millionaire" demonstrates DGD's continued ability to craft tasty little packages of pop-flavoured post-hardcore with just the right amount of tech (or tech-sounding) flair. If the rest of this record were to turn out at catchy and snappy as this one, I'd be a happy camper. And the icing on the cake? This ain't no lyric video son, it's full on animated mayhem. Peep it up yo.

Friday: Between the Buried and Me - Memory Palace

     So you've just finished reading about the epically proportioned tracks on Izah's debut Sistere, you've just finished listening to a sample of same in the form of "Duality", and besides perhaps being a little sweaty and physically drained from the adventure you've just been on (the Izah song, not the blog pose about Izah...) you might well be a tad sick of me and my long-ass songs this week.

     Well, you might want to pour yourself something stiff and have a seat, because I'm not done with you yet. I think, however, that you'll forgive me when you find out who's providing today's epic-length tune. Or when you just read it in the title of this post. Whichever.

     Anyways, down to it: your somewhat belated Friday song is none other than the latest from Between the Buried and Me. I'm sure you were all already aware that BTBAM has been in the studio of late, finishing off their rock opera of a next record. Well now you can hear the latest, assuming of course that another ten minutes or so of your time isn't too steep an investment.Yeah, I thought you'd find the time for  a listen to "Memory Palace". You'll thank me later.