''Automata II'' is the ninth studio album by American

progressive metal Progressive metal (sometimes shortened to prog metal) is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified guitar-driven sound of the former with the more experimental, cerebral ...

band

Between the Buried and Me Between the Buried and Me, often abbreviated as BTBAM, is an American progressive metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina. Formed in 2000, the band consists of Tommy Giles Rogers Jr. (lead vocals, keyboards), Paul Waggoner (lead guitar, backing ...

. It was released on July 13, 2018 through

Sumerian Records Sumerian Records is an American independent record label based in Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and London. The label was founded in 2006 by Ash Avildsen.Automata I'', which was released March 9, 2018. The band also announced that they would perform at

The Summer Slaughter Tour The Summer Slaughter Tour is an annual heavy metal music tour held every year since 2007. It originated in North America in 2007 and has toured in Canada in 2008, Europe in 2008, and Australia and New Zealand in 2009. Billed as "The Most Extreme T ...

Background

On the release of the album, vocalist Tommy Giles Rogers Jr. stated: Through his official Facebook page, Blake Richardson also talked about the album: Bassist Dan Briggs added:

Critical reception

Review aggregator

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

scored the album an 81 out of 100 based on four music critics, citing "universal acclaim".

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

'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

's provocative catalog. 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".

Track listing

Personnel

;Between the Buried and Me * Tommy Giles Rogers Jr. – vocals, keyboards *

Paul Waggoner Paul Andrew Waggoner is the lead guitarist of American progressive metal band Between the Buried and Me. A fan of progressive music, he is heavily inspired by John Petrucci, Pat Metheny, Allan Holdsworth and Steve Vai, amongst others. He former ...

– lead guitar * Dustie Waring – rhythm guitar * Dan Briggs – bass * Blake Richardson – drums ;Additional musicians * Cameron MacManus – baritone sax, trombone * Jonathan Wiseman – trumpet ;Production * Jamie King – production, engineering, drum and piano engineering * Kevin King – additional production * Jens Bogren – mixing, mastering * Kris Hilbert – drum and piano engineering ;Management * Nick "Biggie" Grimaldi (Good Fight Entertainment) – management * Ash Avildsen and Nick Walters (Sumerian Records) – A&R * Dave Shapiro and Tim Borror (The Agency Group) – North America booking * Tom Taaffe (The Agency Group) – international booking * Bryan K. Christner, Esq. – legal representation ;Artwork * Corey Meyers – art direction, layout, photography * Aaron Strelecki and Andrew Strelecki – photography

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2018 albums Between the Buried and Me albums Sumerian Records albums Concept albums Albums produced by Jamie King (record producer) Sequel albums