August Burns Red announce new album, 'Guardians'

August Burns Red, defenders of the riffs. 

August Burns Red are a rare band in metalcore who are talented enough, hard-working enough, and loved enough that they don't need to change that much from album to album. With the exception of 2015's 'Found In Far Away Places' gloriously exploring other genres and textures via lavish instrumental passages, August Burns Red always come to the table armed with blazing riffs, quaking breakdowns, and the gutsy, passionate roars of Jake Luhrs. Which is true of their new material heading into 2020.

With new album 'Guardians' on the horizon for early April, the band shared its first cut last week: 'Defender.' A slightly darker, more melancholic and heavier take on what ABR has been doing over the last few years, it's definitely not some ground-breaking or overly new-sounding song for the Amerian metalcore band. However, what it is though, is a decent, bruising and darkened metalcore track from one of the genre's best and most consistent modern acts. A band who can straddle the line very well between the nostalgia of their older records and the strength of their recent material. Which is also a very rare characteristic for heavy music these days, too.

[caption id="attachment_1108690" align="aligncenter" width="760"] 'Guardians' will cast its protecting gaze on Friday, April 3rd. [/caption]

Lead guitarist, JB Brubaker, spoke about the message behind the metalcore maelstrom of this new track, sharing that:

"The song 'Defender' is about having that person who can come in and take some punches for you, and be in your corner during hard times. I am quite the comic book fan and I thought the lyrics could easily turn into an awesome animated short story — kind of like if the pages of a comic were to come to life. Luckily, everyone else agreed and we have this sick video to go along with the song." 

In keeping with that "defender" theme, the songs comic-book-stylized music video takes on a mostly fitting superhero theme. You can glue your eye-balls to it below: