Year: 2020
Total Time: 49:27
Label: Fearless Records
“Guardians” is the ninth album by AUGUST BURNS RED, one of the most honest and hardworking American bands in the Metalcore scene. They were formed in the early 2000s and pioneered melodic Metalcore alongside the likes of KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and AS I LAY DYING. They might not enjoy the same popularity level of the two aforementioned bands, but they have already two Grammy nominations and they are highly appreciated by their fans as they remain faithful to their sound and to the limited use of clean vocals – probably a deterrent to their success.
“Guardians” finds the five-piece from Pennsylvania sounding as fresh as ever without though the addition of any new elements. AUGUST BURNS RED’s Metalcore is heavy with its melodies coming mainly from the guitars and not from catchy choruses. The band expresses at every opportunity its love for Swedish melodic Death Metal while flirting very often with Progressive Metal as all members of the group are highly skilled musicians. What struck me immensely is how much work has been put into each composition of the record, to the extent that there is almost not a single track that follows the formulaic couplet-bridge-chorus structure. For example, a song can start with the chorus followed by a one off blast beat, then a thrashing fast main part, then the chorus which gives its way to an atmospheric break before the final part concludes with a break down. These diverse structures with their multiple changes make sure to keep the interest of the listener undiminished, but in turn ask for time and attention. I’m not going to lie that it took me a while before the album grew on me.
In addition to well-crafted compositions, “Guardians” is full of harsh vocals, positive lyrics, excellent melodic guitars, drums that love all speeds (with a particular taste for fast), massive break downs (listen for example “Bloodletter” and “Defender”) and influences from bands such as INSOMNIUM and DARK TRANQUILLITY as they are quite evident in tracks like “Empty Heaven”.
The downside of being loyal for years to a certain sound, is that there’s not much room for evolution. No matter how many tempo changes the songs of “Guardians” have, there are many parts you will have heard over and over again in the endless Metalcore releases of the last twenty years. Also, the constant use of Jake Luhrs’ brutal vocals, seems a little monotonous at times. There are, of course, some clean backing vocals that break this monotony, but in their entirety, they sound a little one-dimensional to me. Finally, despite the impressive effort of the band to make each song different, I think that they showed too much zeal, resulting in a large part of the album being quite difficult to digest and not easy to remember.
AUGUST BURNS RED’s latest offering has a little something for everyone as it maintains a fine balance between the band’s heavy and melodic sides. It may not offer anything new or any surprises, but the adventurous structure of each track combined with the technical prowess of the band is guaranteed to satisfy their fans and fans of the genre.
Rating: 7/10
Editor: Dimitris Benetatos
Related Link: AUGUST BURNS RED – Official Band Page
