August Burns Red - Constellations Review

Do you have a favourite metal album? Well now you got a new one! The five man Solid State earthquake known as August Burns Red has put together another one for the record books. Casually placed under ‘BEST ALBUM EVER!’ it has breakdowned its way under my skin and now I can’t listen to anything else. When they actually started sounding good with their first full length LP ‘Thrill Seeker’ they already placed at least in my top 3 favourite bands. In fact, back then, along with Demon Hunter, ABR was the band that got me into metal altogether. After that, they released ‘Messengers’, which was a little different but still very impressive. It has always been very hard to decide which of the two albums was better, but (get ready for this) ‘Constellations’ tops them both.

The album opener ‘Thirty and Seven’ doesn’t begin as ear catching as, say, ‘Messengers’ did. But it definitely sounds promising. However, after waiting a minute or so, you get a full blast of ABR breakdown. We all know how those sound. They take it fast and brutal. Also, vocalists Jake Luhrs and Dustin Davidson seem to be experimenting just a little bit with their vocal range, stretching out the clean(er) parts slightly more than in the previous record. It adds well, showing the intense emotion put into the songs. Then suddenly, in the second song, ‘Existence’, they pull a guitar solo out of nowhere. This is a new and steadily impressive step for ABR and fits beautifully into the myriad of talents they already hold. In ‘Ocean of Apathy’, guitarists JB Brubaker and Brent Rambler seem to go squeal crazy, which I have no problem with. Then, all of a sudden, another new for ABR, halfway through the same song, they do a one-eighty into a slow part. Echo-ey strums and off time drumming (courtesy of my favourite metal drummer Matt Greiner) slowly move back into the intense line “Ocean, ocean, ocean of apathy”. In ‘White Washed’ they mix their signature chugging sound with a Misery Signals-esque underlying minor guitar riff. ‘Marianas Trench’ gives you a chance to breathe with a slow and pretty instrumental opening (which is weird for ABR), but speeds right back up into a heart wrenching kind of metal (if that exists), which just happens to include another even better solo. ‘The Escape Artist’ is definitely the intensity highlight of the album. Every time I hear it, it’s all I have to keep from headbanging. ‘Indonesia’ features help from lead vocalist of Between the Buried and Me, Tommy Rogers, and ‘Meridian’ is a mostly instrumental brew with more influence heard from Misery Signals. (Interestingly, they are cited as one of ABR’s main influences). The last song ‘Crusades’, ends with one last epic step to this brilliant new album. It starts off amazing including a final, really fast, goosebump giving break down. Then it slows its pace with some light strumming for a meaningful applause, only to rage back in again in that way they do. This, ending ‘Constellations’, making you feel oh so incredibly satisfied, initiating one of the last lines of the song “Say goodbye”. Perfect.

This album seems to be written in an attempt to convince people of the existence of God and the struggle to convince the world. Lines like “Open your closed mind, and close your open mouth”, “Everything true and complete is cut out” and “How many have you pushed away, and how many have you saved?” They address the people who deny God and also admit to God being cut out of the world more and more. As Christians, we struggle to show the world what we believe. In the last song ‘Crusades’, they speak about being tried and wanting to be taken home. A feeling many believers has when they are discouraged by the world’s reluctance to listen.

The only problem I had with their previous release ‘Messengers’ is that the kick drum made too much of a “clicking” sound. But they seemed to have fixed that in this album, plus they’ve experimented with new ideas and sounds. In the end it’s still total August Burns Red, only even better than before.

I could talk about this album for pages more, but I’ll stop here to spare you the pain of reading me drool. Bottom Line: you like metalcore? Get this album? You like getting pumped up and ripping a brick in half? Get this album. You like break downs? Holy crap you’ve hit the mother lode. There is absolutely nothing to complain about in this album. Disregarding of course the people who don’t like metal anyway, everyone should hear ‘Constellations’. It is spectacular. By far, the best metal album I’ve heard in a long time. And it has placed August Burns Red neatly back in the position of my favourite band. If I could, I would rate this album 6 out of 5 napkins, but in the interest of making sense mathematically, 5 out of 5 will have to do.

Artist: August Burns Red
Album: Constellations
Label: Solid State
Release Date: July 14, 2009
Length: 47:35
Rating: 5/5 Napkins