Automata II is the ninth studio album by American progressive metalcore band Between the Buried and Me. It was released on July 13, 2018[1] through Sumerian Records, and it is the second part of a two-piece album, the first one being Automata I, which was released March 9, 2018. The band also announced that they would perform at The Summer Slaughter Tour.
| Automata II | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | July 13, 2018 | |||
| Recorded | August–September 2017 | |||
| Studio | The Basement Studios, Winston-Salem, North Carolina | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 33:12 | |||
| Label | Sumerian | |||
| Producer | Jamie King, Between the Buried and Me | |||
| Between the Buried and Me chronology | ||||
| ||||
Background
editOn the release of the album, vocalist Tommy Giles Rogers Jr. stated:[2]
Holding our tongues for 'Automata II' was challenging. We worked so hard on these songs and finally we get to release the other half of this material to the world! I think this is some of the best material we've ever released. It's a result of everything we’ve been striving for up to this point. There are plenty of twists/turns and bizarre moments, but there is also a lot of beauty in the music and the story. 'Automata' is now complete and our protagonist found his version of home and peace. We are all in this together.
Through his official Facebook page, Blake Richardson also talked about the album:[3]
On a personal note, I am genuinely stoked for y’all too hear this part of the double album. We’ve been sitting on this material for a long time and it’s a great feeling for everyone to finally be able to check it out. There’s a track on here that’s like 13 minutes long and it’s THE SHIT. We got riffs, choruses, breakdowns, blasts, horns, drum solos [...]
Bassist Dan Briggs added:
'Automata II' sees us at our most dynamic and most creative. It feels like turning a page into a whole new terrain and us working all these years together to arrive at this point. It's quirky, adventurous, melodic, dark and full of theatrics.
Critical reception
edit| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 81/100[4] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [5] |
| Exclaim! | 9/10[6] |
| MetalSucks | [7] |
| PopMatters |   [8] |
| The Prog Report | (positive)[9] |
Review aggregator Metacritic scored the album an 81 out of 100 based on four music critics, citing "universal acclaim".[4]
Allmusic's Thom Jurek claimed that "Automata II can be listened to on its own, but it holds much greater power when taken together with its predecessor. It is easily the more musically adventurous of the two recordings, making it an indispensable part of Between the Buried and Me's provocative catalog.[10]
Victor Giol of The Prog Report stated that "This will please both the longtime fans as well as new listeners; a very well done feather in BTBAM’s prog concept album cap. Automata is sure to be a top prog album of 2018".[11]
Track listing
editAll tracks are written by Between the Buried and Me
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Proverbial Bellow" | 13:16 |
| 2. | "Glide" | 2:13 |
| 3. | "Voice of Trespass" | 7:58 |
| 4. | "The Grid" | 9:45 |
| Total length: | 33:12 | |
Personnel
edit
|
|
Charts
edit| Chart (2018) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[12] | 69 |
| US Billboard 200[13] | 65 |
| US Independent Albums (Billboard)[14] | 1 |
| US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[15] | 3 |
References
edit- ^ "Between The Buried And Me - Excited to announce that Automata II will be out July 13th and we'll be on this year's The Summer Slaughter Tour! Pre-orders available now at betweentheburiedandme.com VIP on sale tomorrow at 10am PST / 1pm EST Tickets on sale Friday, May 25th 10am 7/13 - Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz Raleigh 7/14 - Myrtle Beach @ House of Blues 7/15 - Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade 7/17 - Lynchburg, VA @ Phase 2 7/18 - Baltimore, MD @ Baltimore Sound Stage 7/19 - New York City, NY @ Irving Plaza 7/20 - Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom 7/21 - Worcester, MA @ The Palladium 7/22 - Philadelphia, PA @ Theater of Living Arts 7/24 - Chicago, IL @ Concord Music Hall 7/26 - Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theater 7/28 - Montreal, QC @ Heavy MTL 7/30 - Columbus, OH @ Express Live 8/2 - Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theater 8/3 - Minneapolis, MN @ Skyway Theater 8/5 - Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre 8/9 - Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades 8/10 - Berkeley, CA @ The UC Theater 8/11 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Novo 8/12 - Anaheim, CA @ Grove of Anaheim 8/14 - Tempe, AZ @ The Marquee 8/17 - Dallas, TX @ Gas Monkey Live! 8/18 - Houston, TX @ House of Blues 8/19 - Austin, TX @ Empire Garage +More Dates To Be Announced | Facebook". Facebook.com. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
- ^ "BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME To Release 'Automata II' In July". Blabbermouth.net. 23 May 2018. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
- ^ "Blake Richardson - Automata II comes out July 13th. Pre orders are available at www.betweentheburiedandme.com . On a personal note, I am genuinely stoked for y'all too hear this part of the double album. We've been sitting on this material for a long time and it's a great feeling for everyone to finally be able to check it out. There's a track on here that's like 13 minutes long and it's THE SHIT. We got riffs, choruses, breakdowns, blasts, horns, drum solos... etc. I mean c'mon. What more do you want? Wait. Don't answer that. #btbam | Facebook". Facebook.com. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
- ^ a b "Automata II by Between the Buried and Me". megacritic.com. Retrieved 2018-07-20.
- ^ Jurek, Thom. "AllMusic Review by Thom Jurek". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
- ^ "Between the Buried and Me Automata II". exclaim.ca. Retrieved 2018-07-20.
- ^ Boozeman, Phil (July 3, 2018). "Album Review: Between the Buried and Me's Automata II is Bizarre and Beautiful". Metalsucks.net. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
- ^ "Between the Buried and Me's 'Automata II' Is an Epic, Emotional, and Eccentric Masterpiece". PopMatters. 2018-07-09. Retrieved 2018-07-20.
- ^ Giol, Victor (9 July 2018), Between the Buried and Me album – Automata II (Album Review), The Prog Report
- ^ "Automata II - Between the Buried and Me | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
- ^ "Between the Buried and Me album - Automata II (Album Review)". Progreport.com. 6 July 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
- ^ "Swisscharts.com – Between the Buried and Me – Automata II". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
- ^ "Between the Buried and Me Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
- ^ "Between the Buried and Me Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
- ^ "Between the Buried and Me Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 24, 2018.