Between the Buried and Me – now without Dustie Waring for good – is giving fans another taste of their upcoming album The Blue Nowhere, due out September 12 via InsideOutMusic. Today, the progressive metal powerhouse released the new track "Absent Thereafter," and it's exactly the kind of chaotic, genre-blurring journey longtime listeners have come to expect. It's also 10 minutes long and there's not an ounce of fat on this thing. It's impressive.
Frontman Tommy Rogers says the song is everything Between the Buried and Me stands for: "To me, 'Absent Thereafter' feels like the quintessential BTBAM song – fun, intense, spacy, and still fucking heavy. I like to think it takes the listener on an unexpected journey, with ear candy waiting around every corner. It's a deeper dive into all of the dynamic places you're taken within The Blue Nowhere."
Bassist Dan Briggs had his own take on the track's wild energy, describing it as "the big fun time bombastic energy of a Van Halen shuffle with Huey Lewis and the News horns," pushed through Between the Buried and Me's usual filters of syncopation, spacey interludes, and unexpected detours. "Sometimes heavily syncopated, sometimes lost in space, and sometimes inspiring you to break out into a do-si-do," Briggs said. "Grab your washboard and let's go!"
"Absent Thereafter" follows the album's lead single, "Things We Tell Ourselves In The Dark," which came out earlier this year with a stylized video featuring a 3D-modeled version of a mysterious hotel central to the album's narrative. The first track hinted at the band's most sonically adventurous work to date.
The Blue Nowhere is Between the Buried and Me's first album to feature an extensive string and horn section, adding another layer of texture to their already multi-dimensional sound. The record was produced by longtime collaborator Jamie King and mixed by Jens Bogren, two names that fans will instantly recognize from the band's past landmark releases.
Pre-orders are available here.
Between the Buried and Me is set to embark on an extensive North American this September and October, just two days after the release of their eagerly awaited new album The Blue Nowhere. The six-week trek is a co-headlining run with Hail The Sun, featuring openers Delta Sleep between September 22 and October 30, and The World Is a Beautiful Place & I am No Longer Afraid to Die between September 14 and 21.
The tour kicks off on September 14 in the heart of Philadelphia, PA at the iconic Union Transfer and blazes across the continent before drawing its final breath on October 30 in Charlotte, NC at the legendary Fillmore. Get your tickets here.
9/14 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer
9/15 Boston, MA Royale
9/16 Ottawa, ON The Bronson
9/18 Toronto, ON Danforth Music Hall
9/19 Montreal, QC Théâtre Beanfield
9/20 Portland, ME Aura
9/21 Albany, NY Empire Live
9/22 New York, NY Warsaw
9/23 Sayreville, NJ Starland Ballroom
9/25 Raleigh, NC The Ritz
9/26 Charleston, SC Music Farm
9/27 Atlanta, GA The Masquerade
9/29 Ft. Lauderdale, FL Culture Room
9/30 Orlando, FL House of Blues
10/1 New Orleans, LA The Joy Theater
10/2 Houston, TX Warehouse Live
10/3 San Antonio, TX Kill Iconic Fest
10/4 Dallas, TX Granada Theater
10/7 Phoenix, AZ The Nile Theater
10/8 Riverside, CA Riverside Municipal Auditorium
10/9 Las Vegas, NV 24 Oxford
10/10 San Francisco, CA August Hall
10/12 Portland, OR Revolution Hall
10/13 Seattle, WA The Crocodile
10/14 Vancouver, BC The Pearl
10/16 Edmonton, AB Union Hall
10/17 Calgary, AB MacEwan Hall
10/19 Spokane, WA Knitting Factory
10/20 Boise, ID Knitting Factory
10/21 Bozeman, MT The ELM
10/22 Missoula, MT The Wilma
10/24 Denver, CO Summit Music Hall
10/25 Wichita, KS TempleLive
10/26 Des Moines, IA Wooly’s
10/27 Chicago, IL The Vic Theatre
10/28 Columbus, OH Newport Music Hall
10/29 Nashville, TN Brooklyn Bowl
10/30 Charlotte, NC The Fillmore
