Composer Reacts to Between the Buried and Me - Swim To The Moon (REACTION & ANALYSIS)

Bryan reacts to and talks about his thoughts on Swim To The Moon (2019 Remix / Remaster)
ORIGINAL VIDEO // • Swim To The Moon (2019...
ALL LINKS // linktr.ee/criticalreactions

[@alexg91024]

If you've ever wondered to yourself, "Do these people just want me to react to every single song by this band?" Yes

[@CriticalReactions]

It certainly feels like that at times :)

[@warofages13]

I’d definitely listen to a full album with you while you comment on it, I don’t care if it’s a 2 hr video!

[@mastervaderog8021]

Since he finished colors now he must finish the discography

[@Roboturnerlol]

THE GREAT MISDIRECT IN FULL!

[@bLindSC2]

I see swim to the moon vid, I smile. I see 56 mins, I smile once more

[@CriticalReactions]

Any reaction to this song that isn't nearing the 1 hour mark isn't really listening to it IMO 😀

[@ApplySomePressure54]

fun fact! in the last keyboard solo of the whole solo section, Tommy just randomly flailed on the keyboard, including with his elbows and his feet, and that's actually the take that's on the album! So when you listen to that part you are literally listening to a man play keyboard with his elbows and feet.

[@sharchik916]

Just double checked to make sure someone called this out because this is probably the funniest dream theater meme I've ever heard and its in one of the greatest songs ever 😂

[@CriticalReactions]

OMG that's perfect!

[@sharchik916]

@@CriticalReactions kzbin.info/www/bejne/aYHKdYZvndaSibM

[@TylerJMacDonald]

@@sharchik916 hey that's my video lol

[@JakeJMusic]

I also want to say, that should you ever do a listen through of Coma Ecliptic, you might be shocked at how different that album as a whole is compared to colors. It leans HEAVILY into the more traditional prog element, and the song writing is incredibly focused and refined.

[@flagmuffin1221]

Yeah, Coma Ecliptic is absolutely *rigid*. But it's still one of my favourite albums of all time alongside TGM and Parallax.

[@MattRose30000]

I was put off by it first. But in the long run (with Automata and Colors II being out) it makes total sense and I've started to appreciate it more. It also helped that I listened to Thommy's solo stuff, because that had a huge influence on Coma, imho.

[@whiteshadow0122]

Coma Ecliptict is probably my favourite work from them. I know most fans don't like it that much, but ever since my first listen, it just became my favourite. I'm not saying it's their best work, but it's the one that resonates with me the most.

[@johnstanton7118]

Holy fuck, they just played this on a whole tour for the first time in 11 years. It absolutely blew my mind to hear this live

[@psychobeef5176]

Agreed. When they had the merch guy do the screams in the beginning, that was intense. So glad I got to see them live.

[@dan6822]

Yea i saw them in Tampa on 9/11/21, awesome hearing The Great Misdirect all the way through. The rest of the set list was great too, I about lost it when they played Backwards Marathon

[@merkaba_lite]

Hell yeah dude. The Great Misdirect is their most underrated album and it's just as good as Colors 1 , 2, and Parallax.

[@shaner5949]

Swim to the moon is the only stand out song on the album imo. Rest of the album is okay-good at best.

[@canismajoris6733]

​@@shaner5949 obfuscation and fossil genera

[@LouisR56]

@@shaner5949 how...

[@shaner5949]

@@canismajoris6733 I’ve always found obfuscation was their most overrated song. Fossil genera is good but not great imo. Just my opinion though.

[@joshpipes2291]

@@shaner5949 Omg. I feel winded every time after the God tier journey that is disease injury madness.

[@corduroy3219]

No way! I’m so excited and someday it would be great if you reacted to parallax part 2 in the same vein of the colors reaction. The story in both parallax albums might be one of my favorite pieces of sci fi in any media. The contrast between the clean and growl vocals actually are meant to display the emotions going on in the story and have a perfect balance.

[@jessbian3385]

I just heard this entire album live a couple weeks ago, this song is such a titan of music.

[@nathanlockhart3876]

Same here. It was an amazing show

[@thaesimir]

It was so good

[@tinflowers]

Same, saw it in Denver. What a party!

[@SmallPP]

same, the Dallas crowd was clapping along to the intro it was amazing

[@buckfuttler2877]

we got Awim to the Moon and White Walls back to back, how awesome was that? FACE. MELTED!

[@Aaron-er2rh]

Truly one of Blakes first most standout and breakthrough dumming performances for me!

[@davidkelly7926]

Fun fact, the 2006 Human Abstract LP was produced by Jamie King, the producer for pretty much all of BtBaM's discography.

[@CriticalReactions]

And I'm seeing more connections 👀

[@brettbarreras48]

Human abstract first album was glorious. Blew my mind when I first heard it.

[@rgaud8]

I like that this song lays out in the first few minutes the themes of the song, and then the song expands on them.

[@progperljungman8218]

Agree they've gotten better over time. Not necessarily with every album but overall. Always wonderful to see you this engaged 🤩

[@ambient6668]

These guys are all over the place. Period. But in a good sense 😅 This is so trippy, I'm pretty much speechless. It is what it is but obviously very clean and well done. My first time hearing this band, so hearing that it's an 18 minute song AND a remix, was intruguing. Did not know what to expect. Reminds me of this one tune by a band called Twelve Foot Ninja where they just straight up do disco and bossa nova segments sandwhiched between much heavier metal sections. It's obvious in both cases that the bands are having fun doing this kind of mixed genre compositions but man, 18 minutes is an impressive feat. Just makes me wonder how they rehearse entire playlists for shows. I agree that this is not a show-off kind of mash-up song. It feels very organic, has a sense of natural flow in spite of the time complexity. The rock organ solo got me laughing tho'. That was a funny thing to throw in there 😂

[@guitarshredder456]

They actually just played this entire album live as the second set of “An Evening with BtBAM” tour. Highly recommend you checking the full album as well as their most recent release, if you liked this! Haha cool to see someone find them through this kind of video!

[@ambient6668]

@@guitarshredder456 Years back I remember seeing this band name and... well, it's not that I judge bands by their names but I just automatically associated them with the metalcore sub-genre which frankly was and is still not my cup of tea. However, from what Brian mentions in his review, this band has undergone significant change over the years. Evolving into a prog-hardcore-punk-metal-mathcore mash-up is not a simple change to make, especially if you're creating 18 mintue long tracks that sound as natural as this does. So without knowing anything about this band and their past showcases, I am certainly more intrigued in what these guys have in store than I initially imagined. If this is their latest sound then these guys are a very talented and dedicated bunch. And yeah, this is definitely a great platform to share and discover music and analyze and over-analyze with others. 🤓👍

[@guitarshredder456]

@@ambient6668 this song is actually from their 2009 album. They’ve released several albums since this one and have become even more refined through the years, as they’ve had the same lineup since their 2005 album “Alaska”. Funnily enough, even on their very first album in 2001, which was more metalcore/hardcore there were hints of what they would eventually become, with some interesting clean sections and slight forays into other genres and what not. Their evolution through the years is so interesting and I feel they’ve always retained this certain something about their music, like if a new song came out tomorrow and I heard without knowing it was them, I would immediately know it was them. Sorry for the tangent haha I’ve loved these guys for about 15 years now, and actually just saw them live for the 14th time a couple weeks ago! I definitely think you wouldn’t regret checking out their newest album, Colors II. I think it may be their best work yet and it just keeps getting better to me with each consecutive listen!

[@codyaliff3620]

I would love to see you react to Colors 2 all the way through. It's truly their best album IMO. They've only gotten better over time

[@andrewwykoff8193]

keep the btbam arc going! favorite song from my favorite band. love it

[@JakeJMusic]

FYI, the character in this story is one of the two main protagonists in the Parallax story. I almost think of this song as the 'Metropolis pt 1' to Parallax's 'Metropolis pt 2'

[@Superdudeawesome135]

I almost cried when I saw the title, I never thought this song would get covered!

[@tim.noonan]

23:50 The way I describe it is that all of their work up to Colors was ‘metalcore albums with progressive tendencies’, and everything from TGM to today is ‘prog albums with metalcore tendencies’. As a drummer with little to no understanding of music theory, I really appreciate you digging in to the compositional aspects of one of my favorite bands!

[@kevinfitz1712]

Digital Veil is criminally underrated.

[@CriticalReactions]

Is it underrated? I view THA as a whole to be lesser known but pretty much everyone I knew who listened to Nocturne found Digital Veil to be a return to form after Midheaven. I'll agree though, Digital Veil has some of the *best* metal writing to date for me. And AJ's wild desire to write an 8 minute metal rhapsody in the sonata form while exploring heavy reuse of themes via variation was the icing on the cake for me.

[@kevinfitz1712]

@@CriticalReactions Human Abstract as a whole was underrated in the metal community, correct. Digital Veil though, that album did not get the acclaim it deserved. You talk to a lot of metal heads and the band and album isn't even on their radar, which blows my mind. It's a gem for those of us that know about it though.

[@CheesecakeMilitia]

I feel like a lot of the "brightness" you mention can be attributed to this album's uniquely bluegrass feel with quite a few clean guitar sections. They occasionally return to that tone (Parallax I, the EP after this release, has a few examples), but it's the defining tone of this album IMO. "Mirrors" (the analogue to "Foam Born A" from Colors) and "Desert of Song" (a kind of expanded "Viridian" from Colors) feel like acoustic recordings. I'd highly recommend putting "Mirrors + Obfuscation" (the first two songs from this album) on the roadmap - they're possibly my favorite composition by BTBAM.

[@x_hunter00]

Yes!! What an amazing song! Each band member gets to shine in this song! Great video \m/

[@007faya]

Damn bro I agree so much with your analysis. I've feel like I've gotten to know this band even better through your analysis over time, and I really appreciate that! Thank you for doing what you're doing:)

[@arthaal]

Nice to see you enjoyed it! The analysis was spot on. And yeah, every time I show a BTBAM song to someone new they always mention a different band that they sound like.

[@saughs]

Ooo I clicked on this so fast… haha nice breakdown and reaction. I remember wondering how they’d pull this off live. I knew they would, but I was just excited to see them actually do it.

[@bsu88]

"Look into the picture" -BTBAM

[@DanDilling_Music]

Youll love Colors 2! I know you must have a huge list but you gotta check out something from there! The Future is Behind Us has a sick video Revolution in Limbo/Fix the Error were the singles!

[@DanceBisboDance]

I recommend a full reaction to this album, it rips and it’s only 6 songs but still an hour of music

[@Bnasty1414]

This was awesome!! Coma Ecliptic album review/reaction would be AMAZING. Keep it up man 🤙

[@DaRkJoKeR77]

I love BTBAM reactions. Can you also check out Lay Your Ghosts to Rest at some point too please? It's one of my favorite BTBAM songs.

[@MattRose30000]

pretty please 🤗

[@elijahstewart3231]

i saw them live over a month ago, one of the best experiences of my life!

[@tinflowers]

Holy crap! I've now heard this song live twice. I'm a huge fan.

[@francisproulx6420]

Man seeing them live was such an incredible experience!! They are TIGHT live, its mindblowing.🎉 + to continue the talk, the drummer is my top 2 just after Brett Powell 😅

[@guitarshredder456]

Don’t know if someone else said it but this is from their 2009 album, the follow up to Colors, this just happens to be the 2019 remaster of that album! Extremeophile Elite, Voice of Tresspass, and Fix the Error are all more recent than this one! Also still hoping for a Colors II reaction!

[@CriticalReactions]

WOW! This was what came directly after Colors? That's a drastic change of pace that occurred immediately, in a sense.

[@bradsteed6833]

This is my 2nd favorite album from them. I enjoy the hell out of it.

[@xavierbonilla1164]

YES! They have said that great misdirect is one of their favorite albums and one they are most proud of…I can’t wait till you listen to colors 2.

[@commonclayofthenewwest6045]

The theme of this song is actually what they base their EP off of that follows. Which eventually leads into The Parallax 2, which came out almost a decade ago and im still trying to digest. They're an odd bunch, but in a world full of normal structured songs, this group will provide you a melodic twist and even hotter conclusions. Blessings be ;)

[@tylerpd52]

You are really going to like Colors II, whenever you get there.

[@coreyadair5731]

Awesome man

[@PhoenixDecim]

Really loving this track

[@jwalkblue7]

I know you do a ton of BTBAM content and listen to us fans crying for more, but if you wanna hear maturation, check out Colors 2. Been listening to these guys for 17ish years, and it's probably their best work.

[@thaesimir]

Seriously, especially after doing Colors recently. Colors II is an amazing 14 year follow up

[@KuBaYa87]

I absolutely second this! Colors 2 is music perfection!

[@buckfuttler2877]

Colors 2 is great, but P2 is on a pedestal.

[@jwalkblue7]

@@buckfuttler2877 I should've said possibly instead of probably. Future Sequence is my favorite album of all-time from any band, but Colors 2 is right behind it for me. I just think Colors 2 does a lot of different things and would be better for this channel.

[@buckfuttler2877]

@@jwalkblue7 fair enough! He needs to do Silent Flight Parliament though!

[@c.j.echave]

Curious as to how you'd like Parallax II, imo it's a lot more cinematic of an album than Colors and I honestly prefer it, Coma is really good too, it's like a "rock" opera if you can imagine btbam doing "rock"

[@scottlocke1796]

Yess!

[@scottlocke1796]

Ants of the sky (2007) Swim to the moon (2009) Extremophile elite (2012) Voice of trespass (2018) Fix the error (2021)

[@CriticalReactions]

Thanks for that. So I've heard quite a bit of variety from their works.

[@manamatron]

After listening to this song, go listen to Colors and you pick up on so many riffs and references. So awesome!

[@vinnydelgado]

Colours is a fucking masterpiece, but The Great Misdirect is my personal BTBAM all time favorite

[@drakeripple7581]

Agreed

[@justinwilson9848]

Gain experience they have done this at the highest level for 20+ years

[@user-xz7ln7rt1t]

I am just getting into The Great Misdirect. Good album.....

[@notan23]

The amount of riffs that goes in to your avarage BTBAM song is just insane!

[@Childofbhaal]

It’s also crazy how they basically play exclusively in C# tuning. How can you write so many riffs across so many songs and albums in just one tuning? Amazing

[@juhosuomi2551]

If you do more full album reactions, please listen the new Rivers of Nihil album The Work which was released last Friday. It's same time heavy and dark album but they also went little bit proggier route this time and the album is kind of journey from start to finish and listening to a single track wouldn't do justice to the whole album because every track brings something special.

[@seangriffin7]

Clowncore- Computers. Out of all the reactors I would love if you did this track off of their "visual album".

[@ethangibbs3688]

I love these guys. You should check out Thornhill - Where We Go When We Die

[@TheLeftistOwl]

I can't wait until you check out all of Colors 2

[@jonathanhenderson9422]

I've got BTBAM on my uber-Playlist right now so I'll hold off on watching this until after I hear it for myself first.

[@7riXter]

33:54 except from it‘s actually the exact same thing 😂 🤪

[@prnmlywn6112]

Leprous - Nighttime Disguise please

[@christopherblowers443]

I don't know what else to say about these guys. goes on for another 35 minutes lol

[@BroudbrunMusicMerge]

Gonna be real - "maturation" was _not_ how I read the thumbnail initially, haha

[@coreygran2498]

YES, IM COREY THE METALHEAD 🙋🏻‍♂️

[@coreygran2498]

The metalcorey!

[@howardmcmillian5764]

Maybe that intro is a 4/4 alternating with a 5/8

[@Mully6]

song RIPS

[@santiagoc7605]

Pls we need react to parallax ll

[@santiagoc7605]

Or tgm

[@nikelodeon6852]

Ants of the sky is not disjointed at all. You don't like the jazz and country sections you're in for a rough time.

[@tomasdepaivacardoso9579]

this band is not from this planet

[@fleshsuitman]

Check out the song dimension y by parius. Strong Btbam and black crown initiate vibes here. So goood