Let There Be Prog

There's a curious moment during the episode of the excellent Classic Albums documentary series which details the making of prog-rock gods Rush's 2112 opus. The seven-part, Ayn Rand-inspired dystopian concept suite that comprises the first side of the 1976 record tells of a world controlled by priests who determine the content of all reading matter, songs, pictures – every facet of life. Upon Rush delivering this grandiose work to their record company, most at the label panicked, figuring no one would understand it. However, it proved to be their commercial breakthrough and remains one of their most-loved releases. The band members suggest during the program that despite the ambitious nature of the music itself, the masses identified with the raw anger channelled within it.

Kindred spirits since forming in 2000, US prog-metallers Between The Buried And Me weren't quite facing the same pressures from the powers-that-be when recording their first fully-fledged concept album The Parallax II: Future Sequence, the continuation of last year's The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues EP. However, vocalist Tommy Rogers quickly notes that even within a dexterous 70 minute-plus piece, themes need to be palatable to wider audiences; listeners require something tangible to latch on to. “I think it's something that a lot of people can relate to,” he explains of their new disc. “These characters, they definitely go through emotions we can all relate to. You're constantly deciding if you regret the decisions you make in your life, and there are certain things that maybe you feel that way about. That's kinda what they're doing, on a grand scale. But I think it's for sure something people can relate to.”

The EP established the narrative's two characters, Prospect I and Prospect II. Separated by millions of light years, the two men exist in ignorance of the other yet are intrinsically connected by a shared soul, which ultimately brings them together. “The original idea, the basic concept our guitarist Paul (Waggoner) came up with. He basically talked to us about it and we were like, 'Yeah, that's something we could work with'. For me, it was something I could elaborate on and build a whole story out of it, create something interesting enough to create an album and-a-half's worth of material.

“We just went from there. I was bouncing ideas off some of the guys and we would work on different ways to approach the story. That's how we went with it. I just try to find my ideas about the human race and where I think things are going, things I try to put my personal touch on. These characters go through a lot of difficult times and you can always put that towards being in a band. Being by yourself a lot, and that isolation… you just try to somehow relate to these characters, because you do want that human emotion in the writing as well.”

Progressive acts such as Dream Theatre have been lambasted for placing technical prowess above actual songwriting and genuine feeling. A recent conversation with Meshuggah's Tomas Haake is recounted to Rogers, whereby he dispelled the myth that the Swedish bruisers sit in a room with calculators, trying to devise the most complex time signatures possible.

Rogers quickly points out that their songwriting process is also an organic one. “Before we start a record we always just get together a lot of ideas, and write a lot individually. Then after a few months of doing that, getting things together, we go to see what each others' doing. We normally get really inspired off each other and kind of elaborate off each other's ideas. Then we just get in a room together and just start putting songs together. It's different for each song; it really is, for each one we write. But that's kinda the starting point, and then we just work with what feels right. The key for us is just playing and writing something that feels really natural to us, and makes total sense to us and our music. We spend a lot of time and we record as we write, so we can always look back, elaborate and change whatever we need when we write.

“That's always the way it's worked for us. Before we write a new record, people ask us, 'What's it going to sound like?' And we never really know. Until we really start putting together ideas we don't really know what to expect, and that's one of the fun things about writing with this band. We never know what we're going to do. I never know what Dan (Briggs, bass) or Paul's gonna write. We all surprise each other every record with the things we write. It keeps it refreshing, exciting and that's the way we like to work. There's always parts that don't work and there's parts that seem like they work for days, then they just ultimately don't. I think at this point we all know what works for us and what doesn't. Sometimes we'll spend an entire day working on a part we like, and at the end of the day it's total crap, you know? It's just part of it; there's definitely lots of that with our music, for sure.” The new record is their most overtly 'progressive' effort yet – how does the vocalist feel about such a tag? “I'd say because I feel like we do push ourselves, we could call ourselves progressive. I think the word gets tossed around way too much with everything. I feel it gets misused a lot. I'm not a genre guy; I either think something's awesome or not. We just kinda write what we think is awesome to us and if it's metal or not, or if it's prog, that's cool. If it's poppy or rock-y; whatever works. I want to keep pushing ourselves, man. I want to keep perfecting what we do.”

Those attending Between The Buried And Me's impending Australian tour likely won't care about genre pigeonholing either; their dedicated fanbase is chomping at the bit for the return. They will be joined by US instrumental prog-metal sensations Animals As Leaders. “They're a phenomenal band, a great group of people and musicians,” Rogers gushes. “I think for people who have never heard them, they're gonna be blown away.

“We're doing a few new songs, then some old stuff here and there. It's tough for us; we have so much music now and our songs are very long. But we're gonna play for an hour and 20 minutes or so, a mix of everything. We've had really good tours there, every time it gets better and better. As far as the growth of the band I hope that continues and that will always increase every year. With this kind of music it's so hard to have expectations and we really can't. So we're just doing our thing; so far it's going really well and hopefully it continues to do so.”

Between The Buried And Me will be playing the following shows:

Tuesday 13 November - Amplifier Bar, Perth WA
Wednesday 14 November - Fowler's, Adelaide SA
Thursday 15 November - The Zoo, Brisbane QLD
Friday 16 November - Corner Hotel, Melbourne VIC
Saturday 17 November - Metro Theatre, Sydney NSW