august burns red hysteria
Apr
02
10.40pm

AUGUST BURNS RED // Goes Down a Ten-Year Memory Lane to Celebrate ‘Constellations’


Aussie metalcore fans can rejoice as August Burns Red will be returning to our shores later in the year to celebrate the tenth anniversary of their album Constellations as part of a worldwide tour.

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The Pennsylvanian quintet will be playing their third album in its entirety and will also be diving deep into the rest of their catalogue including their most recent material. August Burns Red were last in the country in 2015 supporting our very own metalcore heroes Northlane and are keen to bring their intense and melodically driven chaos for a tour down under that covers all the major capitals and includes a date in Newcastle. Hysteria had a chat to founder and guitarist Brent Rambler about the writing and recording of Constellations, the commercial and critical acclaim the album received, how the outfit has evolved over the last ten years and more!

“We went down to Florida in the middle of winter to write and record the album, it was a completely different environment for us, we constantly worked all day long trying to put the writing and the performance into place and I also remember the console in the studio looking like a spaceship and how that was quite appropriate for an album that would be titled Constellations (laughs).”

Constellations reached number 24 on the Billboard albums chart and had positive feedback from fans and critics alike, it was a watershed moment for the band’s career and grew their cult following which has been loyal and ongoing to this day: “The record before, Messengers, did really well, it was a fan favourite and I think they were looking forward to the sequel, so that helps with the first week of sales and where you end up on the billboard charts. As far the critics go, you don’t know what people are or aren’t going to like, all we can do is write the music we want to write. Our songwriting at the time was very straightforward and linear, there was no verse, chorus, it was all just go… go… go… with all the songs having a big ending, and that wasn’t so common at that point in time in our music so that might be why it had a good reception.”

Our songwriting at the time was very straightforward and linear, there was no verse, chorus, it was all just go… go… go…
[ Brent Rambler ]

Constellations also featured guest vocals from Between the Buried and Me frontman Tommy Giles Rodgers on the song Indonesia but the legalities of having him on the song were not as straight forward as Brent alludes to:We did a tour with them previously and we all became good friends throughout that whole process, they were hilarious human beings and we looked up to them as mentors. We were a bit nervous to ask Tommy to be on the record but he said: yeah, sure! and we paid for a plane ticket for him to come to Florida and we also had to get Victory Records to sign off on it. That was difficult because they initially said no even though he had already sung on the song, the label wanted money and all these ridiculous demands but someone had already signed a pre release that Tommy could do it and when the label owner found out he threw a fit but we had already done it so that’s how that collaboration came about. It turned out really well and we all had a good time recording the song.”

Just in the last decade alone the band has released five brutal albums as well as a few EP’s and have truly toured their butts off: “We’ve gone a little more experimental with the music in this decade and I think Constellations was the bridge for that, we’ve grown as people and the band has grown which is always awesome to see. I love that we can come back and do a ten-year anniversary tour and have it be successful whilst continuing to tour for new albums and be equally as successful, it’s something we are all pretty proud of.” As the band’s sonic evolution continues to thrive, the music scene they belong to has also exploded, especially in recent years.

Metalcore bands are popping up everywhere especially in Asia and Australia where the fanbases are extremely passionate about the music. For a band Like August Burns Red who have certified themselves in the genre, they are still very inspired by their contemporaries: “There’s definitely been some bands that have risen to the top, some of these bands have been around forever and have proven to be good songwriters, bands like Architects, Parkway Drive and us. There are bands who were there from the beginning like Killswitch Engage who really kicked it all off and are still getting the same support. There are bands like Crystal Lake from Japan who are doing extremely well, they opened up for us in our US tour and blew everyone in the crowd away, all of our fans showed up early to see them which was awesome.” As the metalcore scene continues to flourish worldwide August Burns Red will be playing Australian shows that combine penetrative musicianship from a lengthy catalogue and a menacing performance that demands your attention from beginning to end.

Catch August Burns Red at the following dates:

MELBOURNE // Friday 11 October // 170 Russell (18+)
SYDNEY // Saturday 12 October // Metro Theatre (Lic/AA)
NEWCASTLE // Sunday 13 October // Cambridge Hotel (18+)
BRISBANE // Monday 14 October // The Triffid (18+)
PERTH // Wednesday 16 October // Capitol (18+)
ADELAIDE // Thursday 17 October // Lion Arts Factory (AA)

Tickets available here.





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