August Burns Red
Messengers

By Adam Z.

Solid State Records: June 19, 2007
Genre: Metalcore, Hardcore, Chaos
Rating: 4.5/5
For fans of:  As I Lay Dying, Bury Your Dead, Haste The Day, Parkway Drive

Solid State Bio: Returning after their critically acclaimed debut "Thrill Seeker," August Burns Red comes out with the dominating sophomore release entitled "Messengers." These Lancaster, Pennsylvania youngsters have accomplished on their first two records what it takes most bands to do in a lifetime, combining the technical aspects of European metal, the breakdowns of American hardcore, and vocal stylings that leave no rock unturned in the metal genre. Produced by Tue Madsen (Extol, The Haunted, Becoming The Archetype), this record promises to be the most brutal, yet polished venture thus far for the band.
 

Following up their previous release, Thrill Seeker, this album is a better than ever follow up for the bands third album.  They pack an amazing punch, and hold through from start to finish with style and technicality.  An amazing album from start to finish.  There’s nothing more you could ask for in this album.  It opens up with the harmonizing yet brutal lead of “The Truth of a Liar”.  The guitars are incredible through the entire album.  “Back Burner” was a particularly great song which the breakdowns consisted of quick paced lead guitars and left my jaw dropped.  “The Blinding Light” brings you awesome lead guitar in the midst powerful guitar-driven, breakdowns to bring the chaos down a bit, not that it will stay calm for long.  Dark and gloomy metal feeling in the song “Black Sheep” had me pounded into my seat with onslaughting breakdowns, particularly in the intro which had me pumped, along with the clean interlude part to bring things to a short halt before bringing more gloomy dual harmonized guitars.   The intro of “Composure” is really intricate.  It shoots to another hardcore beat with quick paced lead guitar to build the song.  Drums are done to the extreme best and are most notable incredible in “The Eleventh Hour” which starts off with a nifty drum fill and then continues into hardcore drumming chaos, and also in songs like “The Balance” in which the song is driven on the double bass and awesome drum fills, and of course standard hardcore drum beats done very well, making for a crazy song throughout.  The chaos comes down a bit once “Redemption” kicks in with its melodic feel and calming lead to add to the mood.  There couldn’t have been a better song to end the album.

If you didn’t know already, ABR took in a new vocalist since their last album.  You won’t notice any difference at first, but in time you’ll hear that he has a higher range.  The growls and screams by Jake are incredible.  He has the ability to hit high ranges, such as in “The Truth of a Liar” and he can hold his growls for extended lengths of time such as in the intro of “The Eleventh Hour”.  He has a loud half-talk half-yell style implied in the song “An American Dream” which works well.  He does no singing, and there is no singing at all on this album.  There are some gang vocals, but I think they weren’t used enough, as I can only recall hearing them a few times, once being on “Redemption” where they were used to repeat the chorus and they sounded amazing.  Overall the vocals were awesome.  They held me through the entire album with a problem.  They are great with the music, there was great range, and talking style and gang vocals are a really nice touch.  To compare him to the previous vocalist, he is about the same, except he has the higher range that Josh could not hit.

The lyrics have taken a big step up.  Apparently all of the members of the band wrote them together.  God bless them because these are some of my favorite lyrics I’ve read.  They seem to have more of an apocalyptic feel to them.  They touch on mostly the judgment of Christ coming to bring us wrath and what will happen to us if we don’t turn to him.  “Redemption” has some of my favorite lyrics, especially when the gang vocals kick in, and they repeat “I am a fallen man, with a heart and sinful hands, I am a fallen victim”, and then Jake comes back in screaming “Lord, show me the way!  Let my words be your words, let my thoughts be your thoughts!”  “The Eleventh Hour” tells us how the final days are coming and eventually we will not be able to stand for nothing, but for either Jesus Christ or Satan.  Other songs like “Composure” seem to be words telling us to prepare or get ready for something.
These Lyrics are some of my most favorite lyrics I have ever read.  I definitely enjoyed the fact that the Lord’s name is used in the words to show listeners.
 

Overall, this is one of the best metal albums I have ever heard and I definitely will have this in my player for awhile.  My favorite tracks are probably “Black Sheep”, “Redemption”, and “Back Burner”.  This is an album that does NOT let up, and I guarantee it will NOT let you down.  A great follow up effort by August Burns Red.