The Hammer of Thor

I said last post that I would be reviewing The Dear Hunter’s Act III: Life and Death in the next post.  Well, something else is forefront in my mind at the moment that I need to cover first, but have no fear, in time, that review will be coming.

As for this post…

Album: Constellations
Band: August Burns Red
Label: Solid State Records

Review:

Ah, August Burns Red.  Legends of the breakdown.  It is hard to find a list of the best breakdowns in metal music without an ABR song on it.   Normally I don’t really like bands that do absolutely no singing and all screaming… it’s too constant of sonic assault and it makes my brain hurt after awhile.  I like an occasional singing break or a quiet song in the middle of insanity.  August Burns Red is an exception to this trend.  I love their music.  It features no real singing, sometimes pitched… yelling I suppose, but no real singing.  They don’t really have slow songs.  It’s just constant, brutal, aural chaos.  However, that being said, there are bands out there who adopt this style and forget that there is such a thing as melody.  ABR hasn’t forgotten.

Although lead vocalist Jake Luhrs has one of the most fear-instilling screaming talents, the band keeps their music interesting with lead lines and chord structures that would allow the music to be sung to instead of scrum to (scrum is now the past tense of scream.)  Luhrs’s fervent messages are delivered with the most urgent feel to them.  In the song “Existence” in the midst of another crushing breakdown Luhr’s demands “… don’t excuse yourself from life today on the pretense of your past.  You’re hurt.  You’re broken.  That’s alright.  This might be what it takes to wake you up.”  The straightforwardness of these lyrics is really pounded home with the breakdown.

The gem on this album is the track “White Washed.”  From the distant lead guitar intro to the broad, sweeping drums and chugs of guitar, to the fury of the breakdowns rebuking someone who’s brings nothing but harm upon everyone they meet.  The melodies are amazing, and drummer Matt Greiner is one of the first drummers I’ve heard that makes a blast beat feel up to tempo and not dragging behind the rest of the band (I usually despise blast beats for this reason).  The final breakdown over the outro, with the words “You’re the straw that’s crushing my back, you’re the salt that’s burning my wounds” is simply, for the lack of a better words, powerful.

After “White Washed” finishes, a small breather is granted with the intro to Mariana’s Trench, a lovely clean guitar precursor to the story of a ship’s men going down with the ship.  A couple tracks later, the track “Indonesia” is dedicated to and tells the story of a man named David Clapper who died in a tragic plane crash while working as a missionary pilot with a small tribe in Indonesia.  The story of David Clapper is an inspiring one, telling of how a man and his family surrendered everything they had to minister to this small remote tribe in Indonesia.  The most profound line in the song is “the white on his flag brings colors to shame.”  The song also features vocals from Tommy Rogers of Between the Buried and Me, an inspiration for the band.

The song “Meridian” is to this album what “Casting Such A Thin Shadow” was to Underoath’s Define the Great Line and there are many parallels in musical style.  The long instrumental intro gives way to distant screamed vocals reciting scripture from Jeremiah.  It is another song that grants us a chance to step back and soak it all in.

Concluded by the relentless “Crusades”, this album is set apart from ABR’s last effort Messengers, which, don’t get me wrong, is an amazing album.  Constellations is a bit of a departure for August Burns Red, with more melody and more ponderous feel.  But all in all, it is a great album that will remain on my top shelf for a long time.

Verdict:
5 out of 5

One of the best metalcore CD’s put out this year but one of the greatest.  August Burns Red further cements their place in Christian heavy music hall of fame.