Review Summary: It rocks.
At this point, what more can August Burns Red bring to the table that they have not already? Through their near two decades-long tenure, the band’s lineup has remained largely unchanged. The same creative minds behind
Messengers are the same ones behind
Guardians. Their musical direction and lyrical themes have hardly inched in any direction. One could possibly argue the album art of
Guardians, a rocky structure surrounded by the raging waters of the sea, is an accurate metaphor for the band. In an ever-changing world, their continuous consistency has remained intact, and it is a rock they stand upon.
The same rock being battered endlessly by the waves is bound to erode a bit with time. That’s not to say that
Guardians is a representation of the band falling apart on a rock that is crumbling away; quite far from it, in fact. Though there is some noticeable weathering, and it exists in the form of the album’s production. August Burns Red have been with the same label and the same producers for years now. Yet, their latest offering faces some new cosmetic issues; the guitars sound rather weak and the bass is next to inaudible. While it doesn't affect the melodic parts of the album, many of the heavier moments, such as “Bloodletter” suffer instead. They simply don’t quite pack the entire punch they potentially could have.
But, given the ability to spread the writing and recording into two blocks of time, as opposed to just one, the band crafted one of its stronger, more focused bodies of work. “Paramount,” “Ties That Bind,” and the final trio of songs on the album are certainly future favorites. It is just a shame these songs are not able to reach their fullest potential because they do not sound up to par with how well they are written.
Truthfully, the most significant influence on
Guardians is the context in which the album was released. August Burns Red has always stood upon another rock of theirs in the form of their overarching lyrical theme of “get back up, be strong, there is hope despite this adversity.” Concurrently, it goes without saying that the world is in a bit of a bleak state in April of 2020. It allows for listeners to behold that rock in a different light. Despite not being earth-shattering wordsmiths, in a time of fear and despair the uplifting words are all the more poignant this time around, at least to this reviewer.
Guardians is not likely to change one’s mind on August Burns Red, regardless of which side of the spectrum they are on. But this time around,
Guardians has the unlikely benefit of context allowing its title to feel so appropriate; it is an imperfect but steadfast rock that gives a breather to those stuck in the swirling sea that is the world.
