For a band, recording can be a tumultuous time or it could go very smooth. Since metalcore act August Burns Red are in the studio now recording album No. 5, Revolver asked guitarist JB Brubaker (pictured left) what the band’s most memorable studio moments have been over its history.
The band expects to release the album later this year and August Burns Red will be performing on the main stage of the Vans Warped Tour this summer.
1. “While tracking Leveler, we had a huge band fight over a drum part that
Suecof and Matt came up with over a section in the song ‘Divisions.’ We were split down the middle on the part and Suecof poked and prodded at everyone until I exploded on him and cussed him out, which caused Jake to lose it and storm out of the room. It was quite uncomfortable and will be remembered as one of the more dramatic moments we’ve had together as a band as we are generally very even-keeled as a group.”
2. “While tracking Messengers with producer Tue Madsen, we ran into a tremolo-picking riff in a section in the song ‘Redemption’ that was a real bugger and took us forever to get a good take of. It was to the point where we were just passing the guitar around the room between Brent , Tue, Dustin , and myself. Each of us would take a shot at tracking it and eventually give up and pass the guitar on to the next person. Tue was the first one to get a usable take. Pathetic!”
3. “While tracking Constellations with Suecof, we had Tommy Rogers from Between the Buried and Me come in and track a clean singing part in the song ‘Indonesia.’ While we are friends with the BTBAM guys, we are also big fans of their band so to have Tommy come in and sing on our album was really special for us. It was also the first clean singing part we had ever had on an album and to this day is the only non-gang vocal singing part we’ve ever had on album. Very cool moment for us.”
4. “When we tracked our Christmas album Sleddin’ Hill, we had an idea for a vocal choir part over the end of the song ‘Oh Holy Night.’ Our drummer Matt’s sister was in the choir at her college and Matt was buddies with the director, Dr. Bigley. He had his choir learn a part he had written specifically for the section in ‘Oh Holy Night’ and producer Carson Slovak brought in a portable Pro-Tools rig and recorded the entire 50-plus person choir live. It gave me goosebumps and was a cool moment as we had never done anything like that before.”
5. “When we were just starting out, we tracked our first full length with producer Adam D , which was quite an honor for us as we were simply a group of unknown metal wannabes. When our drummer Matt setup his kit, his cymbals were covered in green gunk from all the local shows we had played over the past year or two. The concept of cleaning cymbals was foreign to us at this point and we had planned on just tracking the album with the gear we had. Adam took one look at the cymbals and informed us that we would be visiting a music store immediately because those cymbals were far too shot to use in the studio. That was one of many lessons we learned over that session.”
Every Tuesday–the day that new music comes out–we will be listing the hard-rock and metal releases that hit stores, and every Wednesday we will be offering you, the fans, the chance to pick the Album of the Week. Below, check out the albums, EPs, singles, and DVDs that came out this week; pick your favorite, and feel free to vote as many times as you want. Voting ends on Monday, October 15 at noon, when the results will be announced.
UPDATE: The poll is closed. Thanks for your vote. To view the results, click here.
]]>
It’s Tuesday–the day that music comes out–and this one sees shit from Between the Buried and Me, Converge, Coheed and Cambria, KISS, and more hitting stores. Check out the list of releases below and let us know which ones you have already or are planning to pick up.
- The 69 Eyes – X
- The Acacia Strain – Death Is the Only Mortal
- All Time Low – Don’t Panic
- August Burns Red – Sleddin’ Hill, A Holiday Album
- Between the Buried and Me – The Parallax II: Future Sequence
- Beyond All Recognition – Drop Dead
- Blackmore’s Night – A Knight in York
- Blut Aus Nord – 777 – Cosmosophy
- Coheed And Cambria – The Afterman: Ascension
- Converge – All We Love We Leave Behind
- Danko Jones – Rock and Roll Is Black and Blue
- Daylight Dies – A Frail Becoming
- Defiler – Nematocera
- Dio – The Very Beast Of Dio: Vol. 2
- Downfall Of Gaia – Suffocating In The Swarm Of Cranes
- Inhale Exhale – Movement
- KISS – Monster
- Nonpoint – Nonpoint
- Sylosis – Monolith
- Texas In July – Texas In July
- Trash Talk – 119
- Weapon – Embers and Revelations
]]>
Pennsylvania-based metalcore quintet Texas In July have posted a new video update wrapping up their recent tour with August Burns Red and talking about their current headlining tour. Check it out below, and check out the band when they hit a venue near you.
]]>
Screw Christmas carols. We ring in the holidays by cranking the hard rock and heavy metal even louder than usual. One of our favorite tunes to black? Metalcore titans August Burns Red’s excellent cover of the “Carol of the Bells.” So in that case, don’t screw Christmas carols. Program your Xmas lights to them, as some badass headbanger did below.
]]>
August Burns Red have released a new video for their track “Empire,” which is taken from the band’s latest album Leveler. Guitarist JB Brubaker says of making the video:
“The ‘Empire’ video shoot was an exhausting eight hours of sweating and headbanging. But it was worth the exhaustion, as I think it’s the coolest performance video we ever did. I especially like the old-school Godzilla-looking shots that are in the middle and the coloring and filters that were applied to the post production brought everything together.”
The band has also announced they will be heading out on a North American headlining tour early next year, presented by BandMerch. You can view the full schedule below the video.
August Burns Red Tour Dates:
01/13 Sayreville, NJ, Starland Ballroom
01/14 Baltimore, MD, Sonar
01/15 Charlotte, NC, Amos Southend
01/17 Charleston, SC, Music Farm
01/18 Nashville, TN, Rocketown
01/19 Atlanta, GA, The Masquerade
01/20 Orlando, FL, House of Blues
01/21 Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Revolution
01/22 Tampa, FL @ The Ritz Ybor
01/23 Jacksonville, FL, Free Bird Live
01/25 Houston, TX, House of Blues
01/26 Oklahoma City, OK, Diamond Ballroom
01/27 Dallas, TX, House of Blues
01/28 Austin, TX, Emo’s East
01/29 San Antonio, TX, White Rabbit
01/31 Tucson, AZ, Rialto Theater
02/01 Las Vegas, NV, House of Blues
02/02 Anaheim, CA, House of Blues
02/03 San Diego, CA, House of Blues
02/04 Hollywood, CA, House Of Blues
02/05 San Francisco, CA, Regency Ballroom
02/07 Denver, CO, Summit Music Hall
02/08 Salt Lake City, UT, The Complex
02/09 Boise, ID, Knitting Factory
02/10 Portland, OR, Hawthorne Theater
02/11 Seattle, WA, El Corazon
02/13 Calgary, AB, MacEwan Ballroom
02/14 Edmonton, AB, Starlite Ballroom
02/16 Winnipeg, MB, Garrick Centre
02/17 Minneapolis, MN, Caboose
02/18 Chicago, IL, House of Blues
02/21 Cincinnati, OH, Bogart’s
02/22 Cleveland, OH, House of Blues
02/23 Detroit, MI, St. Andrews Hall
02/24 Guelph, ONT, Guelph Concert Theater
02/25 Toronto, ONT, The Sound Academy
02/26 Montreal, QC, Metropolis
02/27 Clifton Park, NY, Northern Lights
02/29 Boston, MA, House of Blues
02/01 New York, NY, Irving Plaza
03/03 Philadelphia, PA, TLA
Unlike many of his more showy peers, lead guitarist JB Brubaker shreds tactfully, playing memorable melodies on “Cutting the Ties,” “Poor Millionaire,” and “Pangaea.” Drummer Matt Greiner also delivers his best work to date, pounding furious blast beats and seeming to be everywhere around the kit at once. The result of it all is a more diverse effort than the band’s last release, 2009′s Constellations, as the songs really stand apart from each other this time around. August Burns Red have set their own bar even higher on Leveler, and have done so for all of their scene in the process. The album is certainly among the most memorable releases so far this year. DAVID McKENNA
Check out “Empire” from Leveler below: