August Burns Red will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of “Leveler” next month.
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After wrapping up a momentous summer that included a Billboard Top 10 debut for their latest album, Rescue & Restore, and a mainstage spot on Warped Tour, AUGUST BURNS RED are revealing a brand-new DVD entitled Foreign & Familiar which chronicled the entire 18-month touring cycle behind the band’s breakout 2011 album Leveler, whose critical and commercial success catapulted the band to the forefront of the modern heavy music scene.
The band is also pleased to announce the Endless Chicago Weekend event on November 22 and 23, featuring back-to-back shows at Chicago’s House of Blues and, for fans holding a weekend pass, early entry on Saturday to attend an exclusive screening of Foreign & Familiar, followed by a Q&A and meet-and-greet with the band.
With every release, August Burns Red seems to expand their sound and individually the members push themselves to a new highs. “Rescue & Restore” finally is the push that takes the band from a familiar sound to a fresh new take on a trademark style.
The band’s previous LP record “Leveler” showed immense creativity growth in songs such as “Internal Cannon” and “Carpe Diem”. “Rescue & Restore” is an album that comes full circle with the band’s style, creativity, talent, and shows how much the band has grown since their early days in 2005. Every aspect of this album has been done bigger and better than ever before.
The first song, titled “Provision”, is probably one of the heaviest things ABR has ever written. Guitarists JB Brubaker and Brent Rambler are at the top of their game with this album, not only with their skill, but also with their creativity as musicians. Instead of going with drop C tuning and chugging away for an entire album, the band has switched up the key of most songs to add variety. It was also very appealing to hear Dustin’s bass tone more audible in this record. Personally, it makes me wish that I could hear more of his bass in previous records because he did a fantastic job on this one. The reoccurring theme I noticed with “Rescue & Restore” is the usage of clean guitars in almost every song, and Matt Greiner’s downplaying on the drums to slow the mood down. This by no means makes ABR less heavy, rather it demonstrates ABR’s expansive talent and creativity with their music.
Jake Luhrs absolutely destroyed my expectations for how he would perform on this record. “Leveler” was an honest and heartfelt record (more so than their previous albums) so I was expecting something similar to that. Some of these songs are my favorite ABR has ever done simply because the vocals are THAT phenomenal. Luhrs does not hold back what so ever. His talent and creativity with his vocal patterns has grown so much since “Leveler” and his lyrics are honest and inspiring. His vocal range has grown (once again) and I believe this album is his most passionate one to date. Faith is still very much a huge part of what August Burns Red stands for and lyrically the messages behind each song are extremely uplifting and encouraging to all. These 11 songs will absolutely kick your butt and have you hooked for a long time.
August Burns Red is moving forward with their music. This isn’t just metal anymore; this is art. This album has a distinct identity and feels more like “music” rather than metal. Some of these songs are the heaviest ABR has ever done, some are the most melodic, some are the lightest, but each song sticks to the deep roots of August Burns Red’s true original style. “Rescue & Restore” is August Burns Red’s best album to date.
9/10
- Ryan
Almost exactly two years since the release of their breakout album, Leveler, AUGUST BURNS RED are set to return with their highly anticipated fifth album entitled Rescue & Restore, available via Solid State Records on June 25th
The album, described by guitarist and principal songwriter JB Brubaker as the band’s “most ambitious album yet,” turns a critical eye to the oft-maligned genre of metalcore, leading by example to prove that bands can still find exciting new ways to expand the genre.
This interview was originally gonna take place at the January 19th stop of ABR’s headlining tour but Jake was busy that night so Matt was cool enough to answer some questions over email for us.
How hard was it picking the setlist for the tour? I know it can get tiring playing the same songs over and over again. Looking over the setlist for this tour, you have the crowd favorites like “Composure” and “Meddler”, etc.
Picking the set-list for a tour is usually a collective effort as a
band. As the headlining band we have the opportunity to play a longer
set and include songs that we wouldn’t regularly be able to play due
to time restraints. We want to include the crowd favorites as well as
the more obscure songs that we don’t regularly play live.
With that in mind, what’s a few songs that weren’t in the setlist that you would’ve liked to play if you had more time?
I am very happy with the current set-list but if I had to include more
songs I’d want them to be Indonesia, Redemption, Speech Impediment,
and Pangaea.
In my opinion, “Poor Millionaire” and “40 Nights” are two of Leveler’s strongest tracks. Can you give us the background of both of these tracks?
Poor Millionaire is a song Jake wrote about someone who, physically,
might look like they have it all together. Spiritually however, this
person is a dry as bones. 40 Nights is a song about living in the
moment and the importance in not taking a single day for granted.
This life is a gift, nothing lasts forever.
I noticed 40 Nights has the line, “Respect is something that you’ll never see. Everything you write all sounds the same.” Who is that directed toward?
It’s a lyric directed towards society as a whole, not at anyone in particular.
Another song, Leveler has the line, “8,064 hours of conspiracies. 200 months which brings me 17 years of lies and betrayal.” Could you explain this for us?
The lyric is about an experience Jake had that he felt inclined to
write about. It’s a song about forgiving someone who wronged you and
the numbers address a specific timeline he’s referring to.
You guys played Warped Tour last year on the Main Stage; are you playing the tour this year?
We have not confirmed for Warped Tour 2012. Suffice it to say, we are
going to be busy touring the world most of 2012.
What are the best run venues from a production and band point of view?
I think one of the best venues in the world is AB Club in Brussels,
Belgium. The catering is amazing, the sound is phenomenal, and the
city itself is incredible!
Last question: what’s one book and one band you’d recommend to anyone that listens to ABR?
I’d recommend ‘Mere Christianity’ C.S. Lewis and the band Bethel Live,
a worship band from Reading, California.
August Burns Red have debuted their new music video for “Internal Cannon”. The track appears on the band’s latest album, Leveler.