AUGUST BURNS RED: New Album Artwork, Track Listing Unveiled

April 26, 2011

Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based Christian metalcore quintet AUGUST BURNS RED will release its fourth album, "Leveler", on June 21 via Sollid State Records. The effort will be available in both regular and deluxe editions — a first for the band.

Commented guitarist JB Brubaker: "For the bonus tracks on the deluxe editions, we were able to collaborate with some close friends and amazing musicians. Our friends in the post rock band BELLS did an amazing job reworking our song 'Pangaea' and making it into something completely different. It sounds absolutely huge and we love it. Our close friend, Zach Veilleux, a virtuoso piano player, shredded a piano rendition of our song 'Boys of Fall'. Dustin and I recorded an acoustic version of our song 'Internal Cannon' with some mariachi flare and a ridiculous guitar solo courtesy of Jason Suecof. Finally, we threw in one of the original midi tracks from the 'Leveler' writing process to give everyone an idea of how our songs sound before they get recorded. It's pure 1988 Nintendo bliss."

While AUGUST BURNS RED has never succumbed to the artistic trends in metal album covers, "Leveler" represents an even larger departure than fans have seen on the band's previous albums. The artwork, created by artist Jordan Crane, brings a striking comic book flair that the band wanted the artwork to encompass.

"What we were going for with the cover was an image of a house that had been destroyed by a natural disaster," says Brubaker. "The cover depicts a house that has been leveled by something like a hurricane. You can see the trees in the background are bent sideways from enduring strong winds. There are a bunch of chickens in the foreground who have come out of hiding to continue on with their daily activities. The chickens represent the calm after the storm. They represent life and the promise of a new day. The art has a real indie-rock vibe to it, which I like because while we're obviously not an indie band, we're not a typical metal band either."

For "Leveler", AUGUST BURNS RED re-teamed with producer Jason Suecof, the man behind the board on the band's previous CD, 2009's "Constellations", which landed at No. 24 on The Billboard 200 and sold more than 90,000 copies. The result is an album that pushes the band's sonic boundaries in every direction, yet emerges as an unquestionably heavier album than its predecessor.

"Leveler" track listing:

01. Empire
02. Internal Cannon
03. Divisions
04. Cutting the Ties
05. Pangaea
06. Carpe Diem
07. 740 Nights
08. Salt & Light
09. Poor Millionaire
10. 1/16/2011
11. Boys of Fall
12. Leveler

Bonus tracks for deluxe edition:

13. Internal Cannon (acoustic)
14. Pangaea (performed by BELLS)
15. Boys of Fall (performed by Zachary Veilleux)
16. Empire (midi)

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