Colors (Between the Buried and Me album)

Colors
Studio album by Between the Buried and Me
Released	September 18, 2007
Recorded	April—May 2007, Basement Studios
Genre	Progressive metal, metalcore, death metal
Length	64:21
Label	Victory
Producer	Between the Buried and Me, Jamie King
Between the Buried and Me chronology
The Anatomy Of (2006) Colors (2007) Colors Live (2008)

Colors is the fourth album by American heavy metal band Between the Buried and Me, released on September 18, 2007 through Victory Records. The group brought out many different influences within the structure of the songs featured on the album. Some of these influences are not even derivative of extreme metal. Examples include jazz, acoustic pop, arena rock, and even bluegrass. The album's sound was described by the band as "adult contemporary progressive death metal".^[1] Although separated in 8 tracks, Colors gives the impression of one continuous song, with transitions between each part.

Overview

Colors was recorded in April through May 2007 at the Basement Studios with Jamie King as the chosen producer for it. Prior to its release, it received great praising reception and sold 12,600 copies in its first week of release, reaching 57th on the Billboard 200, which was the first time the band reached the top 100 on the list.^[2] Mike Portnoy, formerly of Dream Theater (who was one of Between the Buried and Me's main influences when they had first formed their band) named Colors his favorite album of the year. PopMatters wrote, "A true marvel, this challenging but ultimately highly rewarding album is an example of a young band just discovering what it’s capable of. At the rate they’re going, the modern metal pantheon awaits," while Ultimate-Guitar.com also named it "Best Album of the Year" in their annual This Year in Metal.^[3]

A live DVD, titled Colors Live, was released on October 14, 2008 and includes footage from a live show on August 2, 2008 at Rocketown in Nashville, Tennessee.

The song "Prequel to the Sequel" is featured as downloadable content for the video game, Rock Band 2, though it is the radio edited version of the song, shortened to five minutes leaving the polka verse and everything after missing.^[4]

Promotion

Two weeks before the release of Colors, the band released a series of videos for the songs. The videos consisted of clips from classic films, and each video was shown for one day before being removed. The videos were designated different colors to coincide with the album's theme, although having no known relation to the lyrics:

"Foam Born (a) The Backtrack" and "(b) The Decade of Statues" — orange
"Informal Gluttony" — green
"Sun of Nothing" — yellow
"Ants of the Sky" — red
"Prequel to the Sequel" — aqua
"Viridian" — blue
"White Walls" — purple

Reception

• Allmusic link
• AbsolutePunk.net (88%) link
• Alternative Press link
• Blogcritics (recommended) link
• Decibel link
• DOA (favourable) link
• Metal Storm (8.6/10) link
• Punknews.org link
• PopMatters link
• Sputnikmusic link

Track listing

All lyrics written by Tommy Rogers, all music composed by Between the Buried and Me.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Foam Born (a) The Backtrack"	2:13
2.	"(b) The Decade of Statues"	5:20
3.	"Informal Gluttony"	6:47
4.	"Sun of Nothing"	10:59
5.	"Ants of the Sky"	13:10
6.	"Prequel to the Sequel"	8:36
7.	"Viridian"	2:51
8.	"White Walls"	14:13
Total length:		64:21

Personnel

Between the Buried and Me Tommy Giles Rogers – vocals, keyboards Paul Waggoner – guitars Dan Briggs – bass Dustie Waring – guitars Blake Richardson – drums, percussion

Guest musicians Adam Fisher (of Fear Before) - guest vocals on "Prequel to the Sequel" Production Produced by Jamie King and Between the Buried and Me

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ HIM, BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME, THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER First-Week Sales Revealed, Blabbermouth.net, September 26, 2007. Accessed September 27, 2007.
3. ^ This year in Metal:2007, Ultimate-Guitar.com
4. ^ "Rock Band 2 Free DLC Revealed". ign.com. http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/922/922241p1.html. Retrieved 2008-10-21.