Coma Ecliptic

Coma Ecliptic is the seventh studio album by American progressive metal band Between the Buried and Me, released on July 10, 2015 through Metal Blade Records.[7] The band first announced the album through Twitter on September 8, 2014 saying "It has begun! #rockopera".[8] Similar to previous releases by the band, Coma Ecliptic is a concept album. The first single, "Memory Palace" was released on April 3, 2015.[7]

Coma Ecliptic
Studio album by Between the Buried and Me
Released	July 10, 2015
Genre	Progressive metal progressive rock
Length	68:31
Label	Metal Blade
Producer	Jamie King
Between the Buried and Me chronology
The Parallax II: Future Sequence (2012) Coma Ecliptic (2015) Automata I (2018)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	73/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
Alternative Press	[1]
Consequence of Sound	C-[3]
Exclaim!	8/10[4]
The Guardian	[5]
Kerrang!	[1]
PopMatters	[6]

Overview

The band has stated that the concept of Coma Ecliptic involves a man stuck in a coma, journeying through his past lives. It was added that the man faces a choice to either stay or move on to something better. Each song is its own episode in a fashion similar to "The Twilight Zone".[7]

Coma Ecliptic is notably the first album since 2005's Alaska to feature no songs over 10 minutes in length, and also the first album to have a smaller emphasis on growling compared to previous albums. Vocalist Tommy Rogers decided to use clean vocals more frequently, as he felt they better fit the tone of the songs being written.

Reception

The album received generally positive reviews from professional critics. Review aggregator Metacritic scored the album a 73 out of 100 based on 7 music critics, citing 'generally favorable reviews'.[1] Thom Jurek of Allmusic gave the album a positive review saying, "Coma Ecliptic holds together as an album. Despite, and perhaps because of, its relative accessibility it is exceptionally creative. Ultimately, Between the Buried & Me, despite employing many tropes and influences, come off sounding like no one but themselves." Calum Slingerland of Exclaim! opined, "While the noticeable shift away from death metal may discourage some, Coma Ecliptic succeeds in pushing Between the Buried and Me's creativity in a new direction, avoiding a simple rehash of their winning formula."

Dom Lawson from The Guardian gave the album a perfect rating calling it "ingenious, sprawling prog-metal" and saying "From the rock opera crescendos of the opening "Node" onwards, the album dares to be both a quintessentially prog-rock experience and a timely act of modern metal derring-do." Chris Cope of Prog added that "at its best, Coma Ecliptic holds some of this band’s most impressive moments to date."[9]

Some opinions were generally mixed on the band's shift away from technical death metal on Coma Ecliptic. Jon Hadusek of Consequence of Sound gave the album a rating of C-, saying, "Coma Ecliptic clocks in at over an hour, but most discouraging is the band’s failure to translate the album’s conceptual themes to the listener in that timespan." Kerrang! received the album negatively: "They're suspended in an airy updraft of synths and clean guitar lines that are so '70s prog-rock they should be wearing a Rick Wakeman from Yes-styled cape."

Appearances

The second track "The Coma Machine" is featured and available as downloadable content in the game Rock Band 4.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Between the Buried and Me.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Node"	3:31
2.	"The Coma Machine"	7:35
3.	"Dim Ignition"	2:16
4.	"Famine Wolf"	6:50
5.	"King Redeem/Queen Serene"	6:58
6.	"Turn on the Darkness"	8:26
7.	"The Ectopic Stroll"	7:02
8.	"Rapid Calm"	7:59
9.	"Memory Palace"	9:54
10.	"Option Oblivion"	4:22
11.	"Life in Velvet"	3:38
Total length:		68:31

Personnel

Between the Buried and Me

• Dan Briggs – bass, keyboards, backing vocals
• Blake Richardson – drums, percussion
• Tommy Giles Rogers Jr. – vocals, keyboards
• Paul Waggoner – lead guitar, vocals on "Turn on the Darkness"
• Dustie Waring – rhythm guitar

Additional personnel

• Jamie King - production
• Jens Bogren - mixing

Charts

Chart (2015)	Peak position
UK Albums (OCC)[10]	74
US Billboard 200[11]	12
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[12]	17
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[13]	205
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[14]	1
US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard)[15]	1
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[16]	1
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[17]	2

References

1. http://www.metacritic.com/music/coma-ecliptic/between-the-buried-and-me
2. Thom Jurek. "Between the Buried and Me - Coma Ecliptic". Allmusic. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
3. Jon Hadusek. "Between the Buried and Me - Coma Ecliptic". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 2015-07-06.
4. Calum Slingerland. "Between the Buried and Me - Coma Ecliptic". Exclaim!. Retrieved 2015-07-08.
5. Dom Lawnson. "Between the Buried and Me: Coma Ecliptic review - Ingenious, sprawling, prog metal". The Guardian. Retrieved 2015-07-02.
6. Jordan Blum. "Between the Buried and Me - Coma Ecliptic". PopMatters. Retrieved 2015-07-07.
7. "BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME Confirm New Album, Tour with ANIMALS AS LEADERS, THE CONTORTIONIST". Metal Injection.
8. "BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME Appears To Have Begun Work On A New Record". Metal Injection.
9. Chris Cope. "Between The Buried And Me: Coma Ecliptic". Prog.
10. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
11. "Between the Buried and Me Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
12. "Between the Buried and Me Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard.
13. "Between the Buried and Me – Chart history". oricn ME inc. Retrieved August 3, 2016.
14. "Between the Buried and Me Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard.
15. "Between the Buried and Me Chart History (Top Hard Rock Albums)". Billboard.
16. "Between the Buried and Me Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard.
17. "Between the Buried and Me Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard.