:: August Burns Red - Constellations

August Burns Red

If you look over their track record for the last few years, Solid State Records have been quite hit and miss in terms of their releases. While some of their signings have been quite good, there’s been an equal amount of poor acts signed up in comparison. One of the label’s stronger and brighter hopes is Pennsylvania progressive metalcore act August Burns Red, who in the last five years have seemed to have gone from strength to strength with every new album. Following hot on the heels of the ‘Lost Messengers: The Outtakes’ EP released earlier in the year, the five piece act return with their third full-length effort ‘Constellations’. While it would be an outright lie to claim that August Burn Red produce anything that’s remotely different from the million other nameless metalcore acts that are currently populating the metal scene, it has to be said that what the band do on ‘Constellations’ is done exceedingly well. The teasing breakdown at the start of the opening track ‘Thirty And Seven’ is done quite well, while the greater influx of solo work on the guitar front throughout the song certainly doesn’t take away from the band’s sound either. From here on in, the band rarely let up for a single moment, with tracks such as ‘Existence’, ‘The Escape Artist’, ‘Meddler’ and ‘Crusades’ all being ripped through in a frantic pace with a manic mindset. To give the album a little more balance, tracks such as ‘Ocean Of Apathy’, ‘White Washed’, ‘Paradox’, ‘Rationalist’ and ‘Indonesia’ slow things down a bit in terms of speed and aggression, while the atmospheric ‘Meridian’ and ‘Marianas Trench’ delve more into the progressive side of metalcore. Despite offering nothing in terms of metalcore scene, ‘Constellations’ is immaculately produced and mixed, and another step up both musically and sonically for August Burns Red.