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August Burns Red
Track List
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| To say that AUGUST BURNS RED has become a force to be reckoned with in the underground metal scene since the release
of its second album, 2008’s tour de force Messengers, would be something of an understatement.
With... |
 To say that AUGUST BURNS RED has become a force to be reckoned with in the underground metal scene since the release
of its second album, 2008’s tour de force Messengers, would be something of an understatement.
With Messengers, the Lancaster, PA-based band smashed its way to a number 81 debut on the Billboard Top 200, yielding
them support slots for everyone from AS I LAY DYING to BETWEEN THE BURRIED AND ME to EVERY TIME I DIE across
the U.S. and Europe as well as a slot on the 2008 Warped Tour. With a fanbase whose rabidity for all things AUGUST BURNS
RED continued to grow, the band launched its first headlining tours of each of those continents, selling out venues on both
fronts in the process.
As a victory lap celebrating roughly 18+ months of nonstop touring, the group of twenty-somethings is readying a follow-up EP,
Lost Messengers: The Outtakes (out on Solid State Records February 24), consisting of seven B-sides and out-takes from the
acclaimed album in order to tide over fans until the release of AUGUST BURNS RED’s next proper album.
"It seems silly to me to record a bunch of quality songs and then never get them out there for people to hear, especially the
diehard fans,” explains JB Brubaker, founding member, guitarist and mastermind of the band. "That is why we decided to put
this EP out. We wanted them to get to our listeners' ears in one way or another."
One such track, ABR’s cover of “Carol of the Bells,” a mainstay of its annual hometown Christmas shows, was selected for a
2008 online and TV spot on the trailer of Frank Miller's (300, Sin City) new film, The Spirit.
"To hear one of our songs on a TV commercial while chilling at home watching a football game was completely surreal," say
Brubaker. The song went on to sell 25,000 digital copies on iTunes.
While Lost Messengers isn’t necessarily breaking any ground that Messengers didn't already break, it does continue to
showcase AUGUST BURNS RED's trademark sound - a brutal leviathan of mathematical chugging and booksmart riffage that
eschews the format du jour in favor of artful, uncompromised compositions that exhibit both an astute comprehension of
classical methods and a forward-leaning approach to jaw-dropping, neck-breaking throwdown rock - like a RUSH for the
modern, bloody-nosed set.
But at the same time that the band issues an EP that looks backward,
ABR also looks firmly ahead with the recording of its
next full-length, which has an anticipated release of summer of 2009.
Following the full-length's release, ABR will set its sights
on parts of the world heretofore unexplored by the band - Japan,
Australia, Russia, South Africa and Dubai in the United Arab
Emirates, and whatever else the future holds.
"In addition to traveling to and playing in new territories,
we are hoping to continue to push ourselves as musicians and
performers," says Brubaker. "On the new record, we are paying close
attention to the dynamics of the songs. We want them
to breathe in certain places and explode in others. I can say that
while this record will be as unrelenting as our previous ones,
it will also be a little more diverse."
All of which brings us full-circle to AUGUST BURNS RED’s status as powerhouse in the current metal scene. The band has
already proven to be the type that gets kids to put down Guitar Hero and pick up an actual guitar – look no further than the
number of bands on MySpace that list ABR as an influence. So, is AUGUST BURNS RED metal’s “next big thing?” The type
of band that forges the way for thousands of bands to come?
The future of metal in general, and AUGUST BURNS RED in specific, is something of a blank slate at this point. However, one
thing is sure – they’ve certainly put themselves in a spot to contend for the title.
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 | August Burns Red - White Walls |
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Watch August Burns Red's music video for "White Walls."
http://pseudo01.3tierstrategy.com/vod/3tier.3tierstrategy1/hearitfirst/august_burns_red_white_walls_06626.flv
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