Between The Buried And Me

The Music Farm bore witness to an awesome quadruple-header last Friday. What would be a better way to kick off your weekend than to catch metal gods Between the Buried and Me live in Charleston?

The experimental electronic rock band Eyris was the first opener for the show. The intense drumming of Johnny Davis was overpowering, but Cody Fowler and Matt Lynch handled the bass and guitar well. Lynch and Fowler also collaborated on the synthesizer to produce an electronic background melody that produced an all-around unique sound.

After a few solid tracks by Eyris, Telescreen took the stage behind a giant, translucent projection screen; hence the name. Throughout their performance, a series of trippy images were projected onto the screen including brilliant colors, flames and lightning storms. The band was led by the powerful, wailing vocals of Jared Draughon. He was also one of three guitarists, which made for another peculiar element to their set. Overall, it was an impressive, original performance.

The hard-rocking, unshaven He Is Legend amped up the Farm with hits like “The Seduction” and “Attack of the Dungeon Witch.” They had a significantly heavier performance than that of Eyris and Telescreen. Adam Tanbouz laid down hard guitar rifts and Matt Williams added hefty bass lines. Despite the strained vocals of Schuylar Croom, the crowd seemed to enjoy the performance. However, everyone at the show was still anxiously awaiting the one band they were there to see: Between the Buried and Me.

Between the Buried and Me, or BTBAM for short, came out with “Ants in the Sky,” and the crowd went insane. The fans lucky enough to shove their way to the front of the venue rattled the railing, blocking the stage throughout the entire performance.

The Charlotte-based quintet treated the crowd to a mix of new and old tracks, including “Ad A Dglgmut” and “Destructo Spin” from their 2003 album “The Silent Circus”; “All Bodies” and “Backwards Marathon” from their 2005 album “Alaska”; and “Son of Nothing” from their latest masterpiece, “Colors.”

Every song came equipped with at least one awe-inspiring guitar solo from Paul Waggoner, who is known for his exactness during live performances. Guitarist Dustie Waring provided the loaded rhythm, and Dan Briggs underscored the guitar duo with intricate, precise bass lines.

Drummer Blake Richardson delivered pounding percussion all night with a double bass that could cause a heart attack. Tommy Rogers mixed screams with clean vocals throughout the set while handling the keys as well. Rogers worked the crowd exceptionally, screaming in the faces of fans all across the stage and occasionally inspiring lyrical chants from the crowd during the slower parts of a few songs.

After BTBAM finished their set, the crowd was still yearning for more. After five minutes of the crowd chanting “one more song,” Briggs, Waggoner, Waring, Richardson and Rogers took the stage once again for a much-anticipated encore.

The quintet played “Mordecai” for the encore; it was their first major hit, and the song is directed toward fans. The last line of the song reads, “I kill, love and hate for all of you. Thank you for the best part of my life.”

BTBAM showed a humbler side of themselves as they stuck around on stage after the encore to show some love to fans and to thank Charleston for an amazing turnout. The performance was amazing, emotional and downright exhausting. If you have never caught BTBAM live, do it. You won’t be disappointed.