august burns red - guardians

august burns red is one of those bands which constantly deliver. however the last two records felt a bit dull to me. not that they have been bad quality wise but i felt like the sensation had worn off. anyway, with this album they returned to form although they didn't change the recipe. they simply wrote a pretty damn good album.

august burns red - phantom anthem

what a great band august burns red is. i saw them live again at this years reload festival and i am always amazed at how this band seems to fly under the radar. they got an afternoon slot and the crowd was pretty small for a band with such qualities. i wasn't complaining, lots of space to dance and sing-a-long. they played one new song and so my anticipation was rising for the new record. a fellow record collector tipped me off and so i pre-ordered my version at impericon mailorder.

the first thing that came to my mind after i spun the record for the first time, was that "phantom anthem" was packed with hits. their last record "found in far away places" was lacking memorable songs. i enjoy it every time i listen to it but afterwards there is no song stuck in my head. the new record has loads of such songs. it's the same august burns red recipe as always but there is something about it, i fail to explain. whatever it is, it makes the difference between a great record and a masterpiece. check out "frost" and "invisible enemy" and glance a slice of brilliancy.

there were a bunch of vinyl versions available throughout all kinds of internet shops. in hindsight i think i rather would have ordered the white with red marble version which seemed to be an european edition. anyway, my blue with gold marble copy looks pretty nice as well. the gold marble was quite tricky to photograph and looks better in reality. the gatefold sleeve is a standard affair but is sturdy and works well with the double vinyl set. fantastic album that i can only recommend to everybody slightly interested in heavy music. 500 copies made. fearless records. 2017.

august burns red - found in far away places

august burns red is an institution in today's metal scene. with increasing regularity, which means every two years, this u.s. five piece from lancaster, pa releases a new flawless album. at least that was the case in the past. so my expectations were set high for 'found in far away' places. it is the first record for their new label fearless records, which was unknown to me. after a quick research i found out that they released stuff from e.g. at the drive in and blessthefall, so now i can classifiy them in a musical context.

through lambgoat's 'upcoming releases' entries i heard of the news and set out to pre-order a copy. at first i only found pre-order options for the usa and the uk. i was close to order with the uk shop but then, suddenly impericon from germany came up with the european pre-order. so i was just a few clicks away from my new coloured copy of 'found in far away places'. with a few days delay it showed up at my doorstep.

after the first listen it was pretty clear that august burns red didn't get weaker one little bit. 'found in far away places' is a damn cracker from first tune to the last. this band seems unable to produce any crap. forceful and hymnic as always, they go the path further which they took ever since 'leveler'. there might be just one little threat, which is their tiny lack of progress. don't get me wrong, again they put all their heart into these songs with some lovely bits of folk, strings and horn sections, but it's nothing real new.

if you gave me 'leveler', 'rescue and restore' and 'found in far away places' without telling me any release dates, i couldn't tell the differences in evolution. the new record is absolutely great and i enjoy every bit, but for future releases this modi operandi holds the risk of boredom. anyway, get this bad boy, it's so good! i got the 'sea blue' version out of 500 copies, which seems to be somethink like an european edition because it was the only colour-way available. fearless records. 2015.