Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2016 21:38:17 GMT -6
August Burns Red - Leveler
Year: 2011
Genre: Metalcore
August Burns Red is without a doubt the most popular band that I consider myself a fan of. I typically don't care much for popular music and usually don't take the time to look into popular bands, and I'm very lucky that I discovered this album. I was in a used book/CD store, going through their CD's (most of it seemed to be classic rock), when I happened to see Leveler and noticed the familiar band name. At the time, I knew that ABR was a Christian metalcore band and that I'd heard a bit of their music and it sounded decent. So I thought, "What the heck; it's only six bucks, so why not?" When I got home, I ripped the album and started listening. I feared that it would be completely laden with clean vocals and overly mainstream, and thank God it wasn't. It had all the typical 'core elements (lots of screaming, breakdowns, etc.), but there were a lot of metallic elements in there too. Some of these songs actually have guitar solos...something that you don't see too often in this genre. Clean vocals were almost completely absent (the first track features background clean vocals for a tiny portion of the song, but they don't bother me). I had discovered a masterpiece of metalcore.
One problem that I have with metalcore (and 'core in general) is that a lot of the bands sound way too similar and don't put enough emotion into their music. If the theme of every song is "I'm so dang tough", then I won't find it interesting. Metalcore has a great sound for sentimentality, reflections on life, and positivity, and I enjoy it when bands choose those themes. ABR wrote some great lyrics for some of these songs (I haven't read through all of them yet, but I should really get around to that) and it only makes it even more enjoyable. There's a considerable amount of variety in Leveler to keep it from getting stale. Some songs are fast and aggressive ("Internal Cannon" and "Boys of Fall"); others are mid-paced and powerful ("Divisions" and "Carpe Diem"). The tracks are arranged in such a way that the album takes you on an emotional journey, switching between tempos and creating all sorts of different feelings. For example, "Salt & Light", the most upbeat song on the album, is situated between "40 Nights" and "Poor Millionaire", two of the angriest songs on the album. This emotional variety can only be achieved with compositional variety. Some songs have extended, fast breakdowns with aggressive metallic melodies in between, while other songs are more chord-based and have flowing, slow melodies that soar over the chord layer. Some songs feature a break in the middle in which the guitar drops out and they introduce some softer instruments that I don't even know how to describe ("Internal Cannon" is the best example of this). There's a crazy amount of variety in here and each track stands out from the others. Add to all of this the fact that the riffs that they use are simply fantastic. They're not super complicated or anything like that; they're just extremely well-written and memorable. I can't compare any of this to their other albums though, as I haven't looked into them. That's something that I should do soon.
Another problem that I have with metalcore is when bands simply aren't heavy enough. Leveler really packs a punch. The vocals are deep, loud, and forceful, perfect for this style of music. The guitar production is thick and heavily distorted. The drumming is super heavy and aggressive too. Occasionally, there are blastbeats in some songs. That's right, blastbeats in metalcore. I was surprised too, and I love it. It sounds great when they use it, and I actually wish they used it more.
Leveler is a true masterpiece of metalcore and without a doubt one of, if not the greatest album I've ever heard in the genre. Even if you're not typically a 'core fan, you should check this out, as there are considerable metal influences in the music.
96/100
-CrimsonWarrior
As I said before, August Burns Red is popular, so you can find this album just about anywhere.
Year: 2011
Genre: Metalcore
August Burns Red is without a doubt the most popular band that I consider myself a fan of. I typically don't care much for popular music and usually don't take the time to look into popular bands, and I'm very lucky that I discovered this album. I was in a used book/CD store, going through their CD's (most of it seemed to be classic rock), when I happened to see Leveler and noticed the familiar band name. At the time, I knew that ABR was a Christian metalcore band and that I'd heard a bit of their music and it sounded decent. So I thought, "What the heck; it's only six bucks, so why not?" When I got home, I ripped the album and started listening. I feared that it would be completely laden with clean vocals and overly mainstream, and thank God it wasn't. It had all the typical 'core elements (lots of screaming, breakdowns, etc.), but there were a lot of metallic elements in there too. Some of these songs actually have guitar solos...something that you don't see too often in this genre. Clean vocals were almost completely absent (the first track features background clean vocals for a tiny portion of the song, but they don't bother me). I had discovered a masterpiece of metalcore.
One problem that I have with metalcore (and 'core in general) is that a lot of the bands sound way too similar and don't put enough emotion into their music. If the theme of every song is "I'm so dang tough", then I won't find it interesting. Metalcore has a great sound for sentimentality, reflections on life, and positivity, and I enjoy it when bands choose those themes. ABR wrote some great lyrics for some of these songs (I haven't read through all of them yet, but I should really get around to that) and it only makes it even more enjoyable. There's a considerable amount of variety in Leveler to keep it from getting stale. Some songs are fast and aggressive ("Internal Cannon" and "Boys of Fall"); others are mid-paced and powerful ("Divisions" and "Carpe Diem"). The tracks are arranged in such a way that the album takes you on an emotional journey, switching between tempos and creating all sorts of different feelings. For example, "Salt & Light", the most upbeat song on the album, is situated between "40 Nights" and "Poor Millionaire", two of the angriest songs on the album. This emotional variety can only be achieved with compositional variety. Some songs have extended, fast breakdowns with aggressive metallic melodies in between, while other songs are more chord-based and have flowing, slow melodies that soar over the chord layer. Some songs feature a break in the middle in which the guitar drops out and they introduce some softer instruments that I don't even know how to describe ("Internal Cannon" is the best example of this). There's a crazy amount of variety in here and each track stands out from the others. Add to all of this the fact that the riffs that they use are simply fantastic. They're not super complicated or anything like that; they're just extremely well-written and memorable. I can't compare any of this to their other albums though, as I haven't looked into them. That's something that I should do soon.
Another problem that I have with metalcore is when bands simply aren't heavy enough. Leveler really packs a punch. The vocals are deep, loud, and forceful, perfect for this style of music. The guitar production is thick and heavily distorted. The drumming is super heavy and aggressive too. Occasionally, there are blastbeats in some songs. That's right, blastbeats in metalcore. I was surprised too, and I love it. It sounds great when they use it, and I actually wish they used it more.
Leveler is a true masterpiece of metalcore and without a doubt one of, if not the greatest album I've ever heard in the genre. Even if you're not typically a 'core fan, you should check this out, as there are considerable metal influences in the music.
96/100
-CrimsonWarrior
As I said before, August Burns Red is popular, so you can find this album just about anywhere.