AUGUST BURNS RED
Guardians
2020, Fearless
Metalcore really came into its own while I was (briefly) in university and has stuck around ever since - almost 20 years I suppose in the linear experience of time. Like many, I still enjoy the heavier hitters of the genre but as is inevitable some artists go under the radar or just don’t resonate, sometimes at all, with a given set of ears. For me, AUGUST BURNS RED is definitely that band. My start and end of knowing really anything about them is a YouTube video of an adorable puppy air drumming to one of their songs with help from its human. It’s adorable. Seek it.
Guardians is album number nine for ABR so the track record is impressive for sure. But just because there is quantity, quality does not necessarily follow. I actively loathe the guitar tone here, it somehow not being djenty enough to djent and otherwise slapping about as hard as a wet noodle, lacking any real definition. And that’s literally 15 seconds in. Not a promising beginning in any way.
By the time the album enters its mid point, I’m just plain bored. The arrangements are sloppy at best and misguided totally at worst, with AUGUST BURNS RED at this point in their career being really confused overall as to what they are trying to accomplish. It’s almost as if they are trying to be BTBAM. Don’t do that - it is a recipe for failure. The lyrics are inspirational enough, but again, something in the delivery falls flat to my ears (it’s likely the clean singing honestly). I literally cannot do this anymore.
Some bands don’t do it for me. I’m going back to the puppy video.
2.0 Out Of 5.0
