LIVE(STREAM) REVIEW: August Burns Red @ Christmas Burns Red, Rock Lititz Studio
As well as their obsession with the (often awful) Pop Goes Punk! franchise – AUGUST BURNS RED‘s love affair with the festive season is well documented. Starting with 2012’s Sleddin’ Hill record, the metalcore quintet flexed their Christmas spirit regularly ever since. With last month’s All I Want For Christmas Is You EP being their latest nod to the season, it makes sense that if the Pennsylvanians were going to do a livestream, they’d centre it around their yearly holiday show.
Tongue in cheek though it might have always been, AUGUST BURNS RED‘s Christmas offerings have always added character to a band that in any other season are undeniably legit. Like, loathe, or be indifferent to their winter outings – the quintet have been one of the more consistent bands in metalcore since their 2007 breakthrough Messengers.
Opening with an attempt to strike the fine balance between charmingly jovial and credible – hearing the band’s live cover of Chop Suey by SYSTEM OF A DOWN ring out to an empty stage with Christmas trees on it is…. an experience. They do the Armenian nu metal heroes justice though, at least. Less serious, but fun nonetheless was the cut to NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace reading us an AUGUST BURNS RED Christmas tale. You can’t help but smile was he reels off the line “Brett was proficient at chuggies and squeals, and lyrics that hit you *looks up from book to camera* right in the feels.”
When the action fades back to the stage, and the band arrive with the instrumental Flurries, even Scrooge himself would be tempted to pull out a smirk. A snow filled drum kit, Christmas hats, and smiles firmly etched on every band members face: it’s clear how much fun AUGUST BURNS RED find in the concept within three minutes. It doesn’t remain fun and games for long though, as Jake Luhrs takes to the stage and starts rattling through the opening, scorching vocal lines of King Of Sorrow – you’re reminded the five piece are anything but a piss take.
To the band’s praise – it’s always their usual material that takes the spotlight. Sure, seeing bassist Dustin Davidson don a Santa suit for Carol Of The Bells while snow falls from the ceiling makes for merry viewing, but the one-two of Defender and Marianas Trench is what this band are really all about. Two tracks that almost bookend the quintet’s career, modern metalcore has always sounded safe in the hands of AUGUST BURNS RED. The brutality of Bloodletter, Empire, and closing effort White Washed could remove any semblance of jolly festivities from the occasion. And Christmas Burns Red (thankfully) at no point descends into a Christmas show featuring metalcore.
Christmas Burns Red found a well weighted mix between AUGUST BURNS RED being able to take themselves slightly less serious than normal, and also showing why they’ve been figureheads of their scene for over a decade. One of the most reliable outfits of their time, seeing the band in this setting was both refreshing, and relieving that their legitimacy never came close to being sacrificed.
Rating: 7/10