Review Summary: Yawn.
August Burns Red is back with their sixth album (unless you count the Christmas one), and after the well-received Rescue & Restore, many were hoping for a good follow-up. Well, I will say this: we do get much of the same formula that we got in R&R. It's still quite progressive and experimental. The problem is? The production quality is not nearly as good as R&R, and things ultimately just get boring pretty quick.
R&R may have worked, but really it worked *just barely.* It squeaked by with some songs that were much better than others, and was still a vast improvement over the horrendous Leveler. Sadly, although this album isn't as bad as Leveler, it has more in common with it in some ways than with R&R.
"The Wake" is actually a very good start to the album, and gave me high hopes. It's a fast-paced song with some fairly good guitar work, and sets up what could've been fairly well. Sadly, it all kind of goes downhill from there. "The Wake" is the one song that actually sounds somewhat different, and the rest of it is pretty much a hybrid of R&R and Leveler.
The way that most of the songs that can be described is: start off mildly okay with some fast-paced metalcore riffs, and then about midway through, suddenly it fades into a random experimentation with an unusual sound or musical style. (Hmm. Sound familiar?) Then once it gets back to a faster pace, it struggles to finish well. "Identity" is a rare example that actually worked good in this respect. The western-like breakdown midway through was actually quite clever. "Blackwood" and "Martyr" were okay as well overall. However, the more acoustic experimentation sounds that we hear in "Separating the Seas" and "Majoring in the Minors" just do not work. "Broken Promises" doesn't even try to be experimental or anything--it just drones on and on for six bland minutes. By the time we get to the closer "Vanguard," it's just time to listen to something else.
It could be argued that August Burns Red deserves credit for refusing to be like the rest of their metalcore peers, what with them always experimenting around with random stuff. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. This album features more of the stuff that doesn't work very well, with a couple good songs. The rest of it ranges from average to just barely listenable to just flat out boring.
At least ABR can give themselves some comfort in the fact that they are different and creative. But then one problem remains: you still have to sound good when being creative. R&R sounded good for the most part, at least. Found In Far Away Places cannot claim that honor. Progressive metal fans might be okay with it, but otherwise, we are left waiting another couple years, hoping that their next try is better. Because we *know* they're capable of better than this.
Highlights: "The Wake," "Identity"
