Bleghhtooven’s Album of the Month: August Burns Red - ‘Death Below’
“Endless belief in a liar leads to a violent backfire”
Over the last 6 months, this March was shaping up to be one of my most exciting anticipated release windows of all time, and I am pleased to say it exceeded all of my expectations. March saw Invent, Animate release their perfectly titled breathtaking spectacle of an album, Heavener. MORE POWER. MORE PAIN., Gideon's long-awaited follow up to 2019’s Out of Control, is everything I could have ever wanted out of this band: a masterful blend of their punishing, heavy metalcore and newer experimental sounds similar to the work of their contemporaries such as Vatican, Varials, and Counterparts. Bury Tomorrow released my personal most anticipated album of 2023, The Seventh Sun, which if I am being entirely honest, fell just shy of the sky-high bar I’d set. It would feel wrong for me to not give Periphery and Story of the Year nods for their fantastic albums which saw releases this month as well. And finally, deathcore was no slouch this month either with notable releases from Chelsea Grin, Viscera, and Ov Sulfur, the last of which shattered my expectations and is my runner up for best album of March. Expect to see a significant portion of these March releases again come December when I reflect on the best releases of 2023. But with no further ado, I now present to you, my personal favorite album from March, Death Below by August Burns Red.
While August Burns Red is potentially my most listened to band of all time, don’t be tricked into thinking that I am some huge mega fan. In fact, I really only love 3 of their albums, those being Messengers, Constellations, and for some reason a controversial pick, Found in Far Away Places. Almost everything else in August Burns Red’s gigantine discography I have found to be somewhat boring, predictable, and dare I say uninspired. My mindset going into Death Below was that it would be more of the same formulaic metalcore that we have been hearing from them for nearly a decade, and I was more than pleased to discover that they had made some subtle changes that entirely transformed my experience with their music.
August Burns Red are at their best when they are in no rush to get anywhere specific and that has never been more evident than it is on Death Below. Instrumental interludes in songs such as “The Cleansing”, or “Fool’s Gold in the Bear Trap” are not there to showcase this band’s extreme musicianship, or to rapidly prelude a breakdown or technical riff. Instead, they meander for minutes at a time, setting a scene, creating an atmosphere and giving the listener ample time to settle in. The ebb and flow between moments of placid serenity, and violent intensity on this album create a journey worth traveling, not just a destination worth traveling to. It’s not about fast-forwarding to the 2 minute 30 second mark to hit the biggest breakdown you’ve ever heard. Instead, every moment is composed with the intention to be experienced and appreciated for what it is. I am not trying to be hyperbolic, but I truly think this may be August Burns Red’s best album. I’ll have to give it a few months or years to see if I still feel this way, but overall it was the perfect icing on the cake to what was a fantastic month of new music.