Review Summary: While it may be no departure in sound, Found In Far Away Places is a welcome expansion of one of the best sounds in commercial metalcore
At some point in the mid-2000’s, metalcore as a genre stagnated in terms of quality while the overall popularity of it exploded. Groups like Cave In, Shai Hulud, Misery Signals, and other staples began to fade into obscurity as polished frontrunners rose to stardom clad in tight jeans and tank tops with cartoon unicorns on them. Gone were the days of aggressive, chunky riffs and notable hardcore punk influences and in were the days of cheesy synth lines, breakdowns, more breakdowns, and synchronized squats. Despite the sea of lackluster material that came with the shift in genre trends, a few groups have consistently risen above and beyond the rest and have capitalized upon popular metalcore traits in an appropriate way to put out phenomenal releases. August Burns Red is arguably the crown jewel of contemporary, commercial metalcore and fits this description to a tee. The group’s latest release, Found In Far Away Places is a welcome addition to the catalog of releases that solidify August Burns Red as top dogs in their scene.
Found In Far Away Places opens with a growing wall of feedback reminiscent of the introduction to their fourth LP, Leveler. Much like the track “Empire” that opened that album, the first song on FIFAP is a juggernaut that shows August Burns Red doing what they do best. It’s immediately clear that this album is no departure from the sound that has defined the band for so many years. Breakdowns are hard-hitting and somewhat frequent, the riffs are searing, and vocalist Jake Luhrs still dominates the vocal front with a monstrous roar that hits solid highs and guttural lows. Drummer Matt Greiner still stands out as one of the best in the modern metal scene and drives every song with an onslaught of double bass lightening fast rolls. Tracks like “The Wake” and “Everlasting Ending” exemplify this in particular, especially the lead riffs, song structure, and impressive guitar solo featured in the latter.
While Found In Far Away Places may be another step down the same path that August Burns Red has been walking down for ages, there are certainly aspects of it that build further upon influences that weren’t introduced until later ABR works. The bouncy, salsa-tinged bridge and solo at the later half of “Internal Cannon” (from the album Leveler) can be seen manifesting into more unusual territory on this release. “Identity” features a lead into more experimental territory at the beginning of its respective guitar solo while “Separating the Seas” features an eerie bridge that almost reminds the listener of some sort of silent black-and-white film set inside of a haunted house. An excellent guest appearance from A Day to Remember frontman Jeremy McKinnon can also be found on the track “Ghosts”, which provides an energetic clean chorus that provides a welcome contrast against the harsh screams that dominate the vocal front elsewhere.
Flaws are hard to come by on this release, primarily because of what really defines it in comparison to the band’s past work. This is the band’s sixth full-length studio album besides a live album, a Christmas compilation, and an EP. It’s safe to say that August Burns Red has stretched their sound further than most critics thought possible. What compliments this further is the fact that the group has arguably improved with every release and has already worked out most of the kinks that used to plague their sound, such as the excessive breakdowns that occasionally acted as crutches on early releases like Messengers and Thrill Seeker and poor production that brought down releases like Leveler and Home. Whether by trial-and-error or by simple growth as musicians, the band has spent the last several years playing it safe while tweaking small aspects of their sound and improving as musicians.
It’s clear that August Burns Red’s newest album packs few, if any, surprises. In this band’s case, this works extremely well and fans of previous releases will have no issues enjoying this release from start-to-finish. This may not be the album that wins over skeptics of the band, but it doesn’t need to. As a metal release, Found In Far Away Places stands out as one of the best that 2015 has seen so far and serves as welcome addition to an already fantastic catalog of release.
