For a band that hasn’t changed their sound much over the course of almost twenty years, Pennsylvania quintet August Burns Red miraculously continues to stay not only relevant but one of the most widely respected acts in modern metal.
Tag Archives: JB Brubaker
ALBUM REVIEW: August Burns Red – Guardians
The ninth album from August Burns Red comes at a time of much-needed strength. They are not here to reinvent the genre or themselves but if you are a longtime fan or just discovering the Pennsylvania natives, Guardians (Fearless) will be one of your favorites of the year.Continue reading
August Burns Red – The Phantom Sessions
Normally August Burns Red EPs are, believe it or not, a bunch of Xmas songs given a metal makeover. However, this time to bridge the gap between recent album, The Phantom Anthem, and the next record, they have decided to release The Phantom Sessions (both Fearless Records) which features an eclectic mix of new songs, covers and rearrangements of songs from the 2017 album.Continue reading
August Burns Red – Found in Far Away Places
I loved Pennsylvanian quintet August Burns Red, purveyors of fulminating Metalcore with an extra double-shot of espresso in the form of dynamic, rabble-rousing screamer Jacob Luhrs. Then came the queer melodies and repetitive codas of the comparatively anodyne Leveler and Rescue & Restore (both Solid State Records)…
‘The Wake’, the opening gambit from seventh studio album Found in Far Away Places (Fearless), possesses the ferocity of former years: the extra edge to JB Brubaker’s rapid, Eastern-tinged leadplay assisted by Rob Greiner’s bludgeoning sticks and Luhrs’ tar-stripping larynx. The juddering, scything attack of ‘Martyr’ is a further improvement: trademark staccato breakdowns invaded by a gentle lead and string section break, while Brubaker’s delicate, intricate patterns show his continuing evolution.
The mix of light and shade is given a real kick in ‘Identity’, technical savagery traversing the same road as some seriously emotive guitar; an out-of-place 50’s Country / Rock ‘n’ Roll mid-section, however, raises eyebrows. The chaotic battery of ‘Separating the Seas’ is similarly affected by a tango / polka-style bridge, and all of a sudden we’re back in the silly country of the last two albums. The machine-gun riff of the Jeremy McKinnon-graced ‘Ghosts’ is brutal, and even the faux-emotion of the clean vocals is acceptable in the intensity of their surroundings. The howling melodies of ‘Majoring in the Minors’, however, can’t save it from a ludicrous ‘cartoon western’ interlude.
Here, it seems, we have a band who have grown so keen to display the breadth of their invention and myriad influences that utterly pointless incursions into whimsy appear de rigeur: breaking any flow and leaving us wondering what in the blue blazes is occurring.
The soaring, moving lead breaks of standout track ‘Broken Promises’ are far more fitting and more organic, whilst the wanton aggression of ‘Blackwood’ and ‘Twenty-one Grams’ is beautifully tempered by Brubaker’s increasingly judicious, occasionally dainty solos. Repeated plays focus the listener on the overwhelming positives of the album but, lads, for the sake of all that’s holy, stop the excursions into surreal fancy. They cheapen the memorable output of a largely incredible band of musicians.
7.0/10
PAUL QUINN