August Burns Red
August Burns Red is an American metalcore band from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, formed in 2003. The band's current lineup consists of lead guitarist John Benjamin "JB" Brubaker, rhythm guitarist Brent Rambler, drummer Matt Greiner, lead vocalist Jake Luhrs and bassist Dustin Davidson. The band was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2016 for Best Metal Performance for the song "Identity" from its 2015 release Found in Far Away Places, and again in 2018 for "Invisible Enemy" from Phantom Anthem (2017). The band has released ten studio albums to date; their latest, Death Below, was released on March 24, 2023.
August Burns Red
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, U.S.
2003–present
- JB Brubaker
- Matt Greiner
- Brent Rambler
- Jake Luhrs
- Dustin Davidson
- Jon Hershey
- Josh McManness
- Jordan Tuscan
History[edit]
Formation and Thrill Seeker (2003–2006)[edit]
August Burns Red was founded in March 2003 when all the members were attending high school.[2] The original practice sessions of the band began in drummer, Matt Greiner's old egg house and basement on the Greiner family's farmland. After playing many local shows within Lancaster, they recorded their first EP, titled Looks Fragile After All with label CI Records in 2004.[3]
Vocalist Jon Hershey eventually quit the band during the same year, which led to Josh McManness taking on the position as lead singer.[4] After several months of playing with McManness, August Burns Red signed to Solid State Records in 2005.[5] Hershey would later go on to form post-rock band Bells.[6][7][8] August Burns Red released Thrill Seeker, their first full-length album, on November 8, 2005. In 2006, drummer Matt Greiner was endorsed by Truth Custom Drums following the release of the album.
Artistry[edit]
Musical style and influences[edit]
August Burns Red is generally credited as a metalcore[62][63][64][65] and melodic metalcore band,[66] and has also been said to share progressive metal elements.[64][67] The band's songs frequently feature highly melodic guitar riffs, technical or odd time signatures and breakdowns, with a variety of influences including Meshuggah, Symphony in Peril, Pelican, Slayer and The Dillinger Escape Plan,[68] as well as Between the Buried and Me, Misery Signals and Hopesfall.[2] Unlike other melodic metalcore vocalists, Jake Luhrs generally does not mix clean vocals with his screams, though he does include spoken word parts on occasion. For example, their track "Spirit Breaker" features Luhrs reading a letter. However, since Phantom Anthem, Luhrs has used clean vocals in some songs, most notably "Coordinates", "Lighthouse" (featuring a clean-singing chorus) and the band's cover of "Chop Suey!". Clean vocals first made an appearance in the band's music in the form of guest appearances by Between the Buried and Me's Tommy Giles Rogers on "Indonesia", the seventh track from their 2009 album Constellations, and by A Day to Remember's Jeremy McKinnon on "Ghosts", the fifth track from their 2015 album Found in Far Away Places, and the entire band singing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" in August Burns Red Presents: Sleddin' Hill.
While the group has stated that they don't mind being classified as metalcore, Brubaker has grown a distaste for many of the genre's bands: "I feel like anyone who can pick up and play a guitar and learn to play a metalcore riff and any drummer who can learn to play a thrash beat over a breakdown is doing it. It's almost become very formulaic, and metal to me was never a formulaic genre."[65] Musically, the group has incorporated instrumentals such as the cello and the violin while also featuring song elements such as classical music inspired interludes, pushing the boundaries of what is considered 'metalcore'.[33] Many of their songs do not contain choruses, unlike other bands in the metalcore scene.[69]
Band name[edit]
August Burns Red members have been asked about the origin of their band name on many occasions and have given numerous different stories.[62] The most popular story behind the name is an incident involving Jon Hershey, the band's original vocalist, when he dated a woman named August who burned his dog Redd alive in his dog house.[70]
However, it was later revealed in a radio interview that this meaning (along with others) was simply a comical story created by the members and that there is no actual meaning behind the band name. Drummer Matt Greiner stated in the interview that "we just came up with the name to come up with a name."[71]
Christianity[edit]
For a significant part of the band's history, August Burns Red has widely been considered a Christian band.[4] JB Brubaker mentioned in an interview with online magazine Shout!, that "Christianity is a religion, not a style of music" and he would "rather just let the music speak for itself.", and that he would rather let Christianity shine through the band's lyrics.[72] Brent Rambler commented on the fact that "It is important to us that people know that we are indeed Christians... without having us stand up there and ram it down people's throats."[73]
JB Brubaker responded to a 2015 interview question about the band's reaction to being labeled as a Christian metal band by explaining that the presence of Christianity varies in each of the members' lives, but then says, "We decided years ago that we were not going to be an
'evangelical band.' We're not onstage to bring people to God, that's not our purpose up there. Our number one purpose in ABR is to entertain."[69] In a 2014 interview, Jake Luhrs responded to a similar question by saying, "No, we are not a Christian band because, in my eyes, and I'm a believer in Jesus Christ...that doesn't mean because all of us are Christians we are now a Christian band."[74]
Since the members of the band are Christian, their beliefs are sometimes reflected in their writing and lyrics. However, these lyrics aren't meant to be religious but rather, positive and in songs such as "Fault Line", for the band's fans. Brent Rambler said in a 2016 interview, "We don't preach from stage, and we made the active choice that this band is about music, and being a positive influence. Since a lot of people correlate Christianity for positivity, that label has stuck with us."[75]
Recently some of the members have stated in interviews that not all of the band are Christian.[76] They have said that they now just hope to spread positive messages in their music and lyrics, whether they are perceived as spreading a Christian message or not.[77] In a 2019 podcast, Matt Greiner stated that the band decided to drop their Christian label in 2012, after disputes within the band over what kind of message they were trying to spread, and whether their main intention was to make music or to spread a Christian message. Although the decision initially was met with disapproval by Greiner and Luhrs,[78] members of the band continue to state that August Burns Red is not a Christian band.
Jake Luhrs
JB Brubaker
Brent Rambler
Dustin Davidson
Matt Greiner
