AUGUST BURNS RED: Turkey, Israel Concerts Canceled

May 31, 2011

Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based Christian metalcore quintet AUGUST BURNS RED has released the following statement:

"We are very sorry to announce that AUGUST BURNS RED will be canceling our upcoming shows in Turkey and Tel Aviv due to commitments regarding out upcoming June 21st album release in the U.S. Our apologies go out to all the awesome fans who were planning on coming to these shows and the many that already bought tickets, and to the promoters who worked so hard to make them happen. We haven't canceled a show since 2005 so this has been a real hard thing for us to accept. We were really looking forward to these shows and plan on making it up to you as soon as possible."

"Empire", the lead track from "Leveler", the fourth album from AUGUST BURNS RED, can be streamed at this location.

"'Empire' is a pretty intense song and we feel it starts the album out with a bang," explains AUGUST BURNS RED guitarist/principal songwriter JB Brubaker. "My favorite part is the melodic section in the middle with the group singing. We've never done anything like that before and it makes the song special for me."

For those who think the "s" word (singing) means the band has "mellowed" out, be warned: "Empire" is a blistering track that sets the stage for an album that is unquestionably heavier than the band's lauded 2009 breakout "Constellations". Similarly, detractors should be warned that the band isn't content with recycling past tricks.

"Putting out a fourth record is a little scary because we obviously have our sound figured out at this point, but we don't want to put out a record that just sounds like a redux of our previous albums," explains Brubaker. "Our tastes are always evolving as musicians and we've been motivated to progress as a band and push ABR in different directions, while maintaining the characteristics that made us the band we are in the first place."

"Leveler" will be released on June 21 via Sollid State Records. The effort will be available in both regular and deluxe editions a first for the band.

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.

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)

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).