AUGUST BURNS RED

They never make a fuss about it, but AUGUST BURNS RED are metalcore's great survivors. Against the odds, the Pennsylvanian quintet have retained the same lineup for the last 20 years, and their impressive catalogue of nine previous studio albums (or ten, if we include instrumental Xmas album "Sleddin' Hill") ranks among the genre's most irrefutable treasure troves. While other bands have fallen by the wayside or watered down their music to the point of insanity, AUGUST BURNS RED have simply kept their heads down and marched stoically forward, releasing records that have redefined metalcore several times over. They are, it barely needs saying, a classy bunch.

The follow-up to the widely praised "Death Below" (2023),"Season Of Surrender" finds AUGUST BURNS RED in a ferocious, defiant mood. Although they always deliver the goods when it comes to crushing breakdowns and insidious melodies, there has always been an adventurous and mildly subversive streak to this band's output, and their newest bunch of fresh material reinforces the idea that, in their hands, this genre is as malleable and quietly progressive as it wants to be. That said, there are several tracks that simply deliver the desired metalcore headrush without toying with its familiar formula too much. "Den of Thieves", "Whispers Like Splinters" and "S.O.S." are superb examples of how taking a straightforward approach can lead to immediate thrills. In particular, "Whispers…" is as brutal and succinct as anything AUGUST BURNS RED have released in years: a furious, fleet-footed metalcore rager with big hooks and a bigger heart, it will surely become a live staple.

Elsewhere, however, "Season Of Surrender" takes multiple risks and takes the band's sound to some intriguing new places. The opening "Legions" blazes away with deft, polyrhythmic power, as lurching, left-brain riffs conjure a gripping alternative to metalcore's generic essentials; "Behemoth" is a vicious and blastbeat-filled fist to the face, with some electrifying, dissonant churn bubbling away under the surface; and "Cerebral Malfunction" is a deeply warped and willful five minutes, wherein classic metalcore tropes are buoyed by smart changes of pace, bittersweet guitar melodies and a prevailing mood of fidgeting fury.

Meanwhile, the closing "Forged by Failure" twists the usual blend of breakdowns and melo-death urgency into something darker and more grandiose. The riffs pile up and frontman Jake Luhrs does terrible things to his throat, but at around the three-minute mark, AUGUST BURNS RED take the scenic route, allowing ghoulish atmosphere to envelop their breathless momentum. The riffs are still machine-gun forceful and rhythmically precise, but their impact is heightened by a deliberate enhancing of the strange textures lurking between the murderous guitar work and skull-shattering drums. They wear all of these subtle deviations from the norm lightly, but there is no mistaking the sound of a band still feverishly reinventing themselves at every opportunity. Again, they are a classy bunch, and "Season Of Surrender" is one of their classiest (and heaviest) statements to date.