i really love august burns red. they evolved a pretty unique sound over the years and releases. so every abr output is a little cosmos of its own. so much to discover. furthermore they are in my top-five live bands. i rarely saw a band that is able to reproduce their recorded material so flawlessly on the stage. every fill and every solo played absolutely to the point. sheer accuracy and still so energetic.
the next thing i really appreciate in their modus operandi is, they are not all over one's face with their christian believe. live and let live. i once read that the band members stated to be together to play music and not convince people of any denomination. they have a positive message, make out of it what thou wilt.
i have 'leveler' in my collection for three years by now, since 2012, and loved the shit out of it. only one year later 'rescue & restore' was released, but despite my great sympathy for this band i never really tried to get a copy of that album in a serious manner. i believe back then, all vinyl was sold out at pre-order stage and so i lost interest. until the end of last year, that is. with an automatic mail of new listings from my wantlist, discogs came to my rescue again.
the album however, is another master-piece. maybe not quite as strong as 'leveler' in my eyes, but boy, that means this baby is a god damn cracker never the less! just listen to 'creative captivity' and i promise you, you won't get that trumpet melody out of you head for days. my copy seems to be what is called 'gold with white swirls'. pressing information is inclompete everywhere i searched and so, i am afraid to not be able to provide you with numbers for my copy. solid state records. 2013.