If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Few bands in music, let alone metalcore have followed that maxim as closely as August Burns Red, with no detriment to their commercial success or the relative reverence they receive within the scene as a result. One knows what one is going to get with an ABR record, for better or worse, and while this means it’s hard to get as excited for their new music (rolling around every couple of years like clockwork) as it is for some other groups it also means it’s difficult to be disappointed.
With more technical skill than the vast bulk of their peers and a penchant for uplifting songwriting wrapped in catharsis, the group may draw on the same clichés of single note breakdowns and gang chants as a thousand others but have a wealth of other tricks to deal out across the course of ‘Found in Far Away Places’. Foremost among these is the searing, omnipresent lead guitar of “JB” Brubaker, whose melodic style is the perfect compliment to the perennially harsh vocals from Jake Luhrs. The sheer number of lead patterns here diminishes their effect somewhat, but at their best (“Majoring in the Minors”, “Blackwood”) they take centre stage and light up the fretboard. This being their seventh album, ABR have nailed their formula of huge, sprint-and-bounce metalcore to a tee, and though there’s little straying from the pattern most songs do enough to remain engaging and exciting.
The most significant change in ‘Found in Far Away Places’ to prior albums is the increasing presence of the cross-genre interludes that have been cropping up since 2011’s ‘Leveler’. Here they’re used far more in the bridges of songs, somewhat diluting their effectiveness as breaks from the heaviness because of their respective similarity. The musicianship of each is stunning and at their best they’re killer – “Separating the Seas” drops off into a section akin to Zorba the Greek’s music, building to a rousing conclusion. Aside from these injections of spice the mood remains heavy, with the sole exception of intriguing experiment “Ghosts”, chilling atmospheres topped off by a rare clean vocal guest spot from A Day to Remember’s Jeremy McKinnon that results in a surprising, delicious highlight.
Aside from the homogeneity between songs, the other major issue here is another recurring problem for August Burns Red – for all the hugeness of their sing-scream refrains, very little on the album could be described as instantly memorable. There’s nothing wrong with music that takes time to grow on the listener, but it would be interesting to see the band step out of their comfort zone into more accessible territory. Luhrs’ vocal style is repetitive for all its ferocity, and the longer songs particularly “Broken Promises” and “Vanguard” don’t stretch their musical wings to a sufficient length to avoid overstaying their welcome.
Criticising this band is often difficult because of their clear technical and songwriting chops and the obvious dedication they have to their music – particularly admirable for its apparent but never preaching brand of positivist Christianity. They do subscribe to a narrower template than the true best of the genre, and even previous novelty moments are losing their novelty as they’re brought up again and again – but given time to breathe and differentiate themselves the songs of ‘Found in Far Away Places’ are of the same high standard as the others in the August Burns Red discography. Here they have produced another album that their droves of faithful fans will lap up, but that will again convince few of the unconverted to change their minds.
