Your life fell apart in your hands and you've got the scars to prove it

I never really got into hardcore music(note, when I say hardcore, I'm referring to it as a very very broad term, not a specific term) until college. Sure, senior year of college, I had one song by Underoath, and it was pretty awesome. "Reinventing Your Exit", off of the album "They're Only Chasing Safety". But really, let's be honest. That album was definitely on the lighter side of hardcore. Especially that song. However, in college, I was introduced to a variety of bands by a man named Jon, who would later go onto be a major influence in my life. Somewhat of a mentor, if you will. He introduced me to such bands as Haste the Day, He is Legend, and August Burns Red. Over time, he's introduced me to many more (the latest probably being Mychildren, Mybride). August Burns Red is the subject of this post.

August Burns Red, henceforth referred to as ABR, encompasses a few genres, like all hardcore music. I believe that most people, including myself, tend to refer to it as “technical metalcore”, aka, “mathcore”. Yes, mathcore. I wonder what kind of math sometimes. Calculuscore? Non-Euclidean Geometrycore? Algebracore? Either way, it doesn’t matter. What ABR does is technical, to say the least. The guitars are spot on in their riffs, the drummer hits with precision(and has a really nice set of cymbals), and the breakdowns are amazing, to say the least. The vocals, too, are amazing. An all around success. And unlike many hardcore bands, I liked them on the first go through. Haste the Day, for instance, was the first hardcore band that I really listened to. And I hated them the first couple times through. Same with Blessthefall, He is Legend, and others. But no, ABR hit me from the start.

Their first big album, “Thrill Seeker” was put out by Solid State Records. While not as good as “Messengers”, it’s still an amazing album. Especially four of the tracks. The opener, and single, “Your Little Suburbia is in Ruins” kicks things off. Like most of their standout tracks, it’s a brutal crushing song with a message. In this case, it’s simple. “Lend a hand and break the chains of regularity that you lean so closely upon.” The song is about getting caught in the routine of things. I know it may not be immediately apparent, but ABR is a Christian group. Their music speaks for itself. Regularity is a big problem nowadays. People go to church because they’ve been their whole lives, but they don’t go because they love Christ. They pray meaningless prayers because that’s what they were taught, not because they want to grow closer to Christ. It’s no surprise that they’d write this. Nominalism is rampant throughout the states, and it’s not good. We’ve made a suburbia that consists of white picket fences. What we need is love, and devotion, not routine.

Also noteworthy is “Barbarian”, which contains one my favorite lyrics. “Dance until the end my friend, and find joy in every living thing. Optimism, it’s not a choice, it’s a belief.” There’s a lot of junk going on in the world, and a lot of mistakes. But we can make it through.

“Eve of the End” is a sweet instrumental track that busts into the epic ending, “The Seventh Trumpet”. If there was any doubt on ABR’s beliefs, it ends here. It’s a call to end the obsession with temporary pleasures and focus on the world to come. “Something big is going to happen, something so big it could forever change the world.”

Moving on to “Messengers”, but favorite of the two albums, we get some more amazing lyrics. The instrumentation is better, and the message is still there. We have a problem, and Christ is the answer. “The truth hurts, but denial’s what will kill you.” Once again, they present a problem that we in America struggle with. “Materialism”. Glen talked at aCRe one night, and told us a story about a man. The man said that he would rather have a son addicted to pornography than be materialistic, and would rather have his daughter get pregnant before marriage than to have her be materialistic. I think he’s kinda right. It’s a big problem, and it breeds bigger problems. We’ve got to get rid of it, but we cling to it strongly. We buy things that we don’t need, things that are useless and won’t last. We buy it on a whim. I’m guilty of this, I know. It’s not something I’m happy with. But it can be fixed through Christ.

American Dream” follows the same theme. But it’s not all gloom and doom. “Composure” talks about something we all go through. Despair and trials. “Your life fell apart in your hands, and you’ve got the scars to prove it.” But it’s not hopeless. “Composure” is probably the best track on the album, possibly the best song that they’ve written. It keeps presenting problem after problem, much like what we go through in life. “More and more your demeanor looks like quicksand. It seems like you’re giving up on everything you worked for. It’s pulling you under. It’s gripping around your throat.” And then, it hits you. Don’t turn your back on the strongest crutch you’ve ever had. There’s hope. You’ve got friends who’ve been through the same thing. And you’ve got Christ. We’ve been going through Revelation in aCRe, and the first thing we covered was the pictures of Christ presented in the book. One important thing is that Jesus knows what we’ve been through, because he went through it all, and more. He knows our struggles, our trials, and our falls. Because he too went through it. “They have always been there to brace your fall”. If I could use one word to describe this song, it would be “hope”. Christ didn’t put us here alone. He gave us brothers and sisters to help us through our struggles, and he himself is there for us. “It’s time to gain some ground.”

I suppose the last track I want to talk about it, once again, the epic ending. In this case, it’s a humble cry for help. They’ve presented the problem. Now, they admit fully that they suffer with the same thing, and I think that’s important. They aren’t some group of preachers who roam around on college campuses proclaiming that we’re all horrible people, but they are perfect. Strange as it may seem, I’ve witnessed guys proclaiming that. Luckily, there’s at least one good guy who goes from campus to campus preaching. But I have literally heard a guy say that he never sins. And that’s a flat out lie. ABR puts in simply. They need Christ as much as we do. They aren’t above us, they are right there with us. That’s why they hang around after shows and talk with people. “I am just a man with a heart and sinful hands. I am a fallen victim. Lord, show me the way.” Powerful stuff. The song is filled with it. “Be my strength, be my voice, my glory.

So yeah, that was longer than it was supposed to be. But that’s beside the point. ABR is an amazing band, but what really puts them out there is this: This isn’t just music. This is a message that we need to here. We have a problem, and we have to face it. Christ is here for us, and he’s going to continue to be with us until the end. The Bible tells us the same thing. Romans tells us that we all fall short of the glory of God. Thankfully, we have Christ, because I know that I wouldn’t be anything without him. And that needs to be told to the masses. I think one of the reasons that ABR uses this style of music is because we need to reach the people out in the clubs, in the bars, getting drunk and listening to horribly negative music. Take that style, and change the message to hope. They’ll listen to it. I’ve seen it happen. Sure, ABR loves this style of music, and God has blessed them with a talent to play it. But it’s a tool to spread God’s love. And that folks, is the end of my first blog post thingy. Watch the video if you want.

August Burns Red: Composure