AUGUST BURNS RED | Phantom Anthem | Album Review

In the metalcore scene and abroad, there are few names that burn brighter and more colorfully than August Burns Red. The careers of these five men have gone on for nearly 15 years and even though the band had sustained a lead singer change in their early days going from two prior vocalists until settling on current vocalist Jake Luhrs, the band is truly a force to be reckoned with. It seems like every single time an album from this band come out, people are in total excitement waiting for the gift of insanely technical guitar riffs and creative musicianship to be bestowed to them as the respect keeps on coming. It's easy to see why the passionate fanbase feels the way they do about this band because the fact is that they have really not faced a dud album in their career. Some might say that there were inferior and superior albums in their discography, and personal favorites are always in place, but there's still a sense of the band knowing what they are doing in creating metalcore that is really a step above what many bands of their ilk are accomplishing new and old. And as we look into the band's seventh studio album, "Phantom Anthem", it feels very good to say that the consistency is still there even though they don't go as far in the experimentation that they've been known for in the past. 

Back in the summer months, the announcement of the album and the first single was put into gear, that being the fifth track on the track listing entitled "Invisible Enemy". Through my first listen to the track, I wasn't nearly as into it as I was with other material from the band in the past. It still was a good song even when it was first announced, but it gained my attention and it grew on me with several repeat listens. And to be honest, it's a song that should've had me from the start because it's basically a song that defines the band with impeccably technical riffage from JB Brubaker and various shifts in the song's tone where there is a much softer passage in the middle before ending the song on a heavier note. The other released single, "The Frost", grew on me a lot faster due to its happier sounding aggression with its B major riff and the same shifts in tone which give the song its personality, as well as the lyrics that are about someone getting stronger from the trails they face in life. It's proof that even though the music may sound aggressive and might be unsuitable for those who don't like these ideals literally screamed at you, there is a positive message in some of this material that can't be ignored.

The good thing for fans of this band is that these are not the only good songs on the entire album. While this album doesn't necessarily register as perfect or anything like that, there is still significant work being done in this style. The album opens on a good note with "King Of Sorrow", which will immediately bring the listener into the crossfire of the aggressive musical backdrop the backing band is providing alongside Jake Luhrs' screamed vocals. While I did mention that this song opens the album off wisely with the style that people will instantly recognize if they've ever heard an August Burns Red song, especially the more recent stuff, it's the next song on the album, "Hero Of The Half Truth", that expands wholeheartedly on what its predecessor started, and although it ends on kind of an odd note, the song as a whole is very explosive, and the same can be said for the track "Lifeline", which is a major highlight of the album. I feel as though the first half of the album has a slightly larger number of highlight tracks as this is the side that holds both the two pre-released singles as well as tracks like "Lifeline", which are fantastic and relentless in terms of musical composition, but there is still enough on the second half of the album to keep an interest in the rest of the album. This isn't a case of an album having solely four or so good songs, as songs like "Coordinates" and the amazing album closer "Carbon Copy" really resonate with you throughout this 53 minute album, along with a couple of others. 

Even though structurally, all eleven of these tracks are constructed in a similar way almost akin to the way houses are built if they're in a neighborhood track, there's still individuality with each of the tracks. Sticking with the house metaphor, these would all be houses you'd want to be in at one point, even though some houses would look more appealing than others, whether it be the outside or the interior. While I personally think that the band's highest point was reached with the album "Constellations", this album is still proof that this is a band that has not slowed down in delivering innovative metalcore to the masses, even though the trail they've walked has had a few turns along the way. "Phantom Anthem" is an album that will definitely attract more of the positive praise that other albums from this band have gotten in the past, not only because of the band staying true to their original style but also because August Burns Red are one of the brighter lights in a genre that is filled of mostly the same mediocre or obnoxious music. Albums like this prove that metalcore still has creativity left or at the very least is pleasing to the ear to listen to. Albums this good deserve a recommendation for many metal music lovers and music lovers in general because they deserve the kind of respect that burns brightest.

RATING: 7/10

What did you think about the record? Was it good? Was it bad? Let me know in the comments below. And of course, these are only my opinions. If your opinions are different, awesome! If they're similar, then that's great, too. So, don't hesitate- comment to me about it down below. Take care.