Artist: BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME
Album: AUTOMATA I (CD)

Release date: 2018
EAN/UPS: 0817424018302
Media type: CD

Automata I is the eighth studio album by the American progressive metal band Between the Buried and Me. It was released on March 9, 2018 through Sumerian Records, their first release with the label. It is the first part of a two-piece album—the second, Automata II, is scheduled to be released in summer 2018.

Between the Buried and Me began recording the album on July 31, 2017 and finished on September 6, 2017, announcing it in January 2018 with 2018 tour dates set with The Dear Hunter and Leprous. Longtime producer and collaborator Jamie King returned to produce the album.

Automata is a concept album. According to an official press release, the album will revolve around the concept of being able to view the dreams of others, frontman Tommy Rogers commented: “What if dreams could be broadcast for the purpose of entertainment? Could you consume the innermost thoughts of another person on screen? If you could, what does that say about an attention-starved audience? More importantly, what would become of the dreamer?”

Automata I received generally positive reviews from professional critics, noting the band's continued technical proficiency found in their previous albums, while some felt ambivalent of the album's significantly shorter length—drawing comparisons to their 2011 extended play, The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues, which is five minutes shorter—and the band's decision to release Automata in two parts. Review aggregator Metacritic scored the album a 70 out of 100 based on five music critics, citing "generally favorable reviews".

All tracks written by Tommy Giles Rogers Jr., Dan Briggs, Blake Richardson, Dustie Waring and Paul Waggoner.


TRACKLIST CD/ LP:
No.     Title     Length

1.     "Condemned to the Gallows"     6:35
2.     "House Organ"     3:41
3.     "Yellow Eyes"     8:45
4.     "Millions"     4:43
5.     "Gold Distance" (instrumental)     1:02
6.     "Blot"     10:27

LINE-UP:

    Dan Briggs – bass
    Blake Richardson – drums
    Tommy Giles Rogers Jr. – vocals, keyboards
    Paul Waggoner – guitars
    Dustie Waring – guitars

Additional personnel:
Kris Hilbert – piano, additional drum production
Cameron MacManus – trombone, baritone saxophone
Jonathan Wiseman – trumpet

Jamie King – production, engineering, piano
Jens Bogren – mixing and mastering
Kevin King – additional production