Between The Buried And Me bassist Dan Briggs says ignoring the rules of songwriting is what makes a band progressive.
The North Carolina prog metal outfit are the latest act to appear on FreqsTV’s new Into The Machine series. Briggs and guitarist Dustie Waring explain the group’s prog leanings and say that, over the course of their seven albums, they’ve always been sure to evolve their sound.
Briggs says: “To me, it’s forward thinking, it’s writing about boundaries without worrying about song length or structure. Really, no rules I guess. Especially when you’ve been around as long as we have, it’s constantly trying to do something new.
“The band started out 15 years ago in the hardcore scene and travelled through quite a lot of metal worlds. Something that was always kind of there and peeking its head out was this more progressive rock and metal influence.”
BTBAM released latest album Coma Ecliptic last year, and Briggs says that it’s a record they wouldn’t have been able to make when they started out.
He says: “If we had tried to write this album when we all got in the group in 2004, it would have been such an abrupt change and I don’t think we were mature enough to write it.
“We had to grow. When people talk about influence, it’s not always saying, ‘I was listening to The Who.’ Things that happen in life bring you to the point that you’re at and bring the band to the point it’s at.”
BTBAM tour North America with August Burns Red in March and April.
Opeth’s Mikael Akerfeldt was the first star to appear on Into The Machine.
