All of the August Burns Red Albums Ranked
August Burns Red is a metalcore band that has been doing music for a while now. Not only have they been at it for a long time but with the exception of Guardians and Phantom Anthem, they have released an album every 2 years. The band never stays silence though, releasing plenty of EPs, instrumental, and holiday albums as well. August Burns Red is usually touring constantly and still have the time to play hometown holiday shows. The band have an upcoming livestream of Leveler coming up as well. Below we’re going to rank the band’s albums with our August Burns Red albums ranked list.
8. Thrill Seeker
Thrill Seeker is the debut studio album from August Burns Red, the only one to not feature current vocalist Jake Luhrs. At the time of the release of Thrill Seeker, the band was heavily considered Christian metal. The band still has that core sound that they have carried through all of their future music but the vocal style is clearly different with this release. This may be the only release that the band doesn’t play songs from live.
7. Leveler
Upon reaching 10 years old this year, August Burns Red has re-recorded Leveler with a bonus track. While I am not a huge fan of this album compared to the rest of their discography, Leveler shows a definitive sound from the band. Songs like Empire and Internal Cannon are metal anthems with August Burns Red shredding in classic fashion.
6. Guardians
The newest full-length from August Burns Red, Guardians is one of the heavier hitting albums but sees that band at a much more mellow tone at times. Guardians feels very heavily inspired by Leveler and reminds me very much of the album. You can clearly hear the evolution and maturity of the band’s sound since the original release of Leveler compared to Guardians. The band released an EP titled The Guardian Sessions this year since releasing the album last year. The EP features covers and lik-minded tracks from the band during their time recording Guardians. Songs such as covers of the Westworld theme songs and System of a Down’s Chop Suey can be found on the EP as well as original and variants of their own songs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48L67oBBvHQ
5. Phantom Anthem
Phantom Anthem features on of the most shred filled melodic jams from the band in the form of songs like The Frost and Invisible Enemy. Outside of these songs, the album is still very true to a specific sound. With releases like Found In Far Away Places and Rescue & Restore, the band saw a sort of return to their older sound with this album.
4. Rescue & Restore
Rescue & Restore was an entirely new realm for August Burns Red to explore. On this album the band incorporated new elements into their music such as spoken word. The band started incorporated a lot of breaks with this album, which I truly appreciate. Many Rescue & Restore songs start off slow and lead into a more explosive sound that is signature for August Burns Red.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7OS4Fy_xNw
3. Messengers
One of two albums that I personally find August Burns Red at their most brutal moments, Messengers is a work of metalcore art. Messengers is also the only album August Burns Red has released separately with B sides, titled Lost Messengers: The Outtakes. The band does now however commonly release EP’s accompanying most albums such as the most recent EP Guardian Sessions.
2. Constellations
Featuring some of the hardest hitting August Burns Red songs of all time such as Meddler, Constellations sees a lot of lead to breakdowns. Breakdowns are never simple with August Burns Red however as the band’s breakdowns and solos are always highly unpredictable. Constellations is what I’m considering the band’s most brutal, earning the album the second spot on our August Burns Red albums ranked list.
1. Found In Far Away Places
Found In Far Away Places is the most defining album in the career of August Burns Red. The album takes elements from every single release before it and turns it into Found In Far Away Places. With elements of spoken word, metalcore and classic metal and so much more, August Burns Red really discovered themselves with this album. This album is clearly studio heavy but nothing about this album sounds saturated. The band continued to incorporate a lot of breaks into the songs of this album as well. The band has shown a 10/10 with this release.
Overall, August Burns Red is pretty high on the totem pole of talented, respected musicians. The band often tours with similar or hand picked bands every tour because August Burns Red shows have such a huge following. The fans expect a certain kind of metal show and August Burns Red never disappoints.