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British/German alt-punk outfit PLAIINS have officially returned with a venomous and vibrantly catchy new single titled “Look Ma, I’m a Don”, out now via Long Branch Records. Building upon the massive momentum of over three million streams and widespread critical praise, the track serves as a masterclass in satirical songwriting, taking aim directly at the … Continue reading Alt-punks PLAIINS drop satirical new anthem “Look Ma, I’m a Don” ahead of UK tour

Their catalog varies in sound — and quality — but there's at least one winner on each album. Continue reading…

The Devil Wears Prada's Jeremy DePoyster discusses the band's latest album and pays tribute to Dave Shapiro and Daniel Williams a year after their death. Continue reading…

In April we heard “Geneva,” the debut single from Morgan Noise, and we learned that Morgan Noise is the band led by Fat Dog’s Morgan Wallace. Now, according to the sacred customs of the record business, she’s followed up that song by sharing another one and announcing her debut LP.

The post Morgan Noise Announce Debut Album <em>Something Built, Something Remembered</em>: Hear “Silly Me” appeared first on Stereogum.

Swedish heavy rock/doom architects THE SONIC OVERLORDS have returned with a thunderous new digital single, “Calling Demons By Your Name,” accompanied by a striking performance music video. Released via M-Theory Audio, the track serves as a powerful statement of intent as the band continues actively working on more new music.

The digital single is available on all streaming/download platforms, or watch “Calling Demons By Your Name” HERE: https://youtu.be/vrT2HwHy10A?si=6Jqwhmnl3P_SRWe4

As the world seemingly devolves into chaos, THE SONIC OVERLORDS shine a beacon of hope in the form of a new single, “Calling Demons By Your Name.” An unrelenting steamroller of a track, packed with grit and power, that for a few minutes pulls you away from everyday troubles and into a realm where metal reigns supreme.

The new track pushes the band’s signature blend of crushing classic metal and massive melodic hooks into exciting new territory. Guitarist Morgan Zocek explains the vision behind the new anthem:

“The foundation of the song is heavily influenced by Black Sabbath, but the chorus also brings in a touch of Journey through its melodies and harmonies. And that’s something I would like to keep experimenting with in the future, blending AOR elements with our doom/classic hard rock sound. I feel like that combination could become something quite unique.“

“CALLING DEMONS BY YOUR NAME” MUSIC VIDEO:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrT2HwHy10A

Formed in 2017 by guitarist Morgan Zocek, THE SONIC OVERLORDS joined a few years later by vocalist Marcus Zachrisson Rubin and the bottom-end of bassist Daniel Ramírez caught the attention of the global metal underground with their 2021 debut album, Last Days of Babylon.

The band established a “warm familiarity” by seamlessly bridging the gap between late ‘70s/early ‘80s classic hard rock and epic heavy doom (think Dio/Martin-era Black Sabbath, and classic Rainbow, Candlemass, Yngwie J. Malmsteen, Scorpions and Michael Schenker Group).

With “Calling Demons By Your Name,” THE SONIC OVERLORDS, together with drummer Michael Dahlqvist, are cementing their place in the modern heavy rock landscape while carving out a melodic path entirely their own. Stay tuned for more updates and new music announcements in the near future.

For more info on The Sonic Overlords:
www.m-theoryaudio.com
www.facebook.com/Thesonicoverlords
www.instagram.com/the_sonic_overlords_official
https://thesonicoverlords.bandcamp.com

The alternative music landscape is notoriously fragile, filled with acts that completely burn out or compromise their sound the moment they taste mainstream validation. Yet, standing as an immovable monolith at the absolute summit of global heavy music is Lancaster, Pennsylvania’s metalcore vanguard, August Burns Red.

For over twenty years, this elite five-piece unit has defied structural music industry trends, maintaining a remarkably stable core lineup and an uncompromising work ethic that systematically re-engineered the mechanics of technical breakdowns. Today, we pull back the layers of precise production, hyper-syncopated drumming, and throat-shredding emotional vulnerability to provide the absolute, permanent ranking of every August Burns Red album from worst to best.

Check Out – Metalcore Bands Ranked: The 13 That Actually Defined The Genre

TL;DR

• Unrivaled Consistency: Lancaster, Pennsylvania icons August Burns Red have spent more than two decades serving as the absolute benchmark for modern technical metalcore.
• The Entire Evolution: This evergreen countdown tracks all 11 studio outings, tracing their journey from chaotic local math-core roots to progressive, Grammy-nominated arena titans.
• No Eras Forgotten: We evaluate every phase of their writing, including their unconventional instrumental holiday experiment and their modern star-studded collaborative efforts.
• The Ultimate Verdict: While their catalog boasts zero true failures, their definitive late-2000s masterpieces remain the gold-standard blueprint for the entire heavy music genre.

11. August Burns Red Presents: Sleddin’ Hill (2012)

Definitive Track: “Carol of the Bells”

The Breakdown: Placing an all-instrumental Christmas record at the anchor position of a metalcore ranking is standard procedure, but writing off Sleddin’ Hill as a cheap holiday gimmick is a massive mistake. Rather than delivering lazy, commercial tracking, guitarists JB Brubaker and Brent Rambler used this session to flex their immense knowledge of classical theory.

They seamlessly re-imagined traditional symphonic themes into complex, sweep-picked thrash movements. Driven by the unrelenting double-bass work of Matt Greiner, compositions like “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” are brilliant exhibitions of pure guitar gymnastics. It is a wildly entertaining, technically staggering record, but it naturally lacks the raw narrative gravity and emotional weight of their traditional vocal studio albums.

10. Thrill Seeker (2005)

Definitive Track: “Your Little Suburbia Is in Ruins”

The Breakdown: The raw, unhinged blueprint that started it all. Recorded long before the career-defining arrivals of vocalist Jake Luhrs and structural bassist Dustin Davidson, Thrill Seeker stands as a historical testament to a young group weaponizing chaotic math-core velocity via Solid State Records. Heavily influenced by the erratic time signatures of early scene pioneers like Misery Signals, the tracking here is frantic and predatory.

While standout moments like “Your Little Suburbia Is in Ruins” offer sharp glimpses of the breakdown patterns that would eventually rule the genre, the album ultimately suffers from a muddy, primitive mix and a lack of memorable vocal hooks. It remains an absolute cult favorite, but it represents an incredible engine still searching for its primary steering wheel.

9. Leveler (2011)

Definitive Track: “Empire”

The Breakdown: Arriving immediately after a legendary back-to-back run of genre-defining masterpieces, 2011’s Leveler found the group actively fighting against the creative walls of the metalcore label. The result is the most polarizing, high-risk experiment in their timeline.

The tracking features jarring detours, injecting sudden acoustic salsa interludes into “Internal Cannon” alongside progressive rock dynamics that caught old-school purists off guard. While towering anthems like “Empire” and “Poor Millionaire” deliver the heavy-hitting sonic weight expected of Lancaster’s finest, the overall tracking structure feels slightly fragmented. The band’s ambition was immense, but it frequently felt like an absolute collection of brilliant ideas competing for oxygen inside the same tracking room.

8. Phantom Anthem (2017)

Definitive Track: “Invisible Enemy”

The Breakdown: By 2017, August Burns Red had fully perfected the high-contrast formula of balancing complex, classical guitar melodies with punishing percussive force. Phantom Anthem functions as an absolute clinic in flawless, elite studio production values. The record earned the band another well-deserved Grammy Award nomination for the single “Invisible Enemy,” a track that masterfully utilizes hyper-syncopated guitar patterns matched step-for-step with Greiner’s polyrhythmic drumming.

While the album is an ironclad masterclass in execution, it sits lower on the countdown simply because it adheres strictly to the established, safe ABR playbook. It is a bulletproof, razor-sharp record, but one that actively treads familiar ground rather than forcing a brand-new evolutionary step.

7. Death Below (2023)

Definitive Track: “Ancestry”

The Breakdown: Easily the darkest, most conceptually suffocating record in the group’s history. Written and tracked during an era of profound global isolation, Death Below is a continuous, progressive journey stripped of standard, radio-friendly song lengths. The tracking bleeds together seamlessly, creating an ominous, ambient wall of sound that borders on progressive post-metal.

The emotional center of the record, “Ancestry,” features a stunning guest vocal performance from Killswitch Engage icon Jesse Leach, who locks horns with Jake Luhrs’ guttural screams of depression and generational trauma. It is a dense, challenging, and deeply rewarding piece of art that proved after two decades, this band could still sound incredibly dangerous.

6. Guardians (2020)

Definitive Track: “Defender”

The Breakdown: Released precisely when the world required a massive message of resilience, Guardians is an absolute powerhouse of anthemic metalcore energy. The tracking layout returns to a riff-first philosophy, delivering some of the most memorable, instantly infectious guitar hooks of JB Brubaker’s career.

Tracks like “Defender” and “Bones” are stadium-sized juggernauts, combining soaring, uplifting melodic movements with some of the most bone-crushing, syncopated breakdown drops ever committed to digital tape. It is an album that radiates triumphant strength, perfectly showcasing the band’s uncanny ability to fuse sheer violence with a deep sense of spiritual hope and grace.

5. Found in Far Away Places (2015)

Definitive Track: “Ghosts”

The Breakdown: This is the precise moment August Burns Red officially unlocked their modern progressive identity. Their debut release for Fearless Records, Found in Far Away Places, successfully achieved the genre-bending experimentation they had attempted on Leveler. The classical transitions feel entirely organic, smoothly moving from beautiful cinematic soundscapes into hyper-technical thrash metal.

The album’s crown jewel, “Ghosts,” features a brilliant dynamic contrast provided by A Day To Remember frontman Jeremy McKinnon, helping propel the band to their very first Grammy nomination. It is a cinematic, forward-thinking masterwork that permanently solidified their status as elite composers.

4. Season of Surrender (2026)

Definitive Track: “Legions”

The Breakdown: The latest studio monument to enter the catalog has completely proven that the band’s creative fire is nowhere near burning out. Season of Surrender cuts away any unnecessary progressive fat to deliver the heaviest, most emotionally volatile tracking the band has tracked in over a decade. Conceptually exploring themes of self-sabotage and the cathartic act of letting go, Jake Luhrs delivers a career-defining vocal performance that sits proudly at the absolute forefront of the pristine mix.

The star-studded collaborative tracking is a massive highlight—most notably the explosive vocal clash with The Devil Wears Prada’s Mike Hranica on the opening track “Legions,” and the atmospheric, crushing layers of “Sonic Salvation” featuring Polaris frontman Jamie Hails. It is a spectacular blend of their mid-2000s aggressive breakdown fury matched with their modern cinematic wisdom.

3. Rescue & Restore (2013)

Definitive Track: “Fault Line”

The Breakdown: A defiant, artistic declaration of war against a stagnant music scene. By 2013, the commercial metalcore landscape had become completely overrun by generic, paint-by-numbers electronics and autotuned pop choruses. August Burns Red responded by tracking Rescue & Restore, an album designed to actively save the integrity of the genre.

Integrating complex jazz chords, authentic classical violin layouts, and even brilliant mariachi horn structures on “The Creative Captivity,” the album expanded the vocabulary of what extreme music could achieve. “Fault Line” stands as one of the most powerful, emotionally resonant tracks in their history. It is a towering, high-concept monument of pure artistic integrity.

2. Messengers (2007)

Definitive Track: “White Washed”

The Breakdown: The undisputed, earth-shattering blueprint that permanently reshaped the face of global heavy music. Marking the monumental debut of frontman Jake Luhrs and structural bassist Dustin Davidson, 2007’s Messengers dropped onto the scene like an absolute atomic bomb via Solid State Records.

Stripping away any lingering clean-vocal tropes of the era, the record delivered 11 tracks of unmitigated, high-velocity metalcore violence. Driven by the legendary, genre-defining opening riff layout of “White Washed” and the relentless rhythmic attack of “Comrades,” this record established the template that thousands of contemporary bands are still actively trying to replicate today. It is a historical masterpiece of raw, unadulterated aggression.

1. Constellations (2009)

Definitive Track: “Marianas Trench”

The Breakdown: The absolute holy grail of modern progressive metalcore. If Messengers proved that August Burns Red could completely dominate the scene through raw brawn, 2009’s Constellations proved they were genuine musical geniuses. Striking the absolute perfect balance between terrifying breakdown velocity and sweeping, stargazing melodic beauty, the record is a flawless front-to-back masterpiece.

From the legendary, technical drum-roll intro of “Marianas Trench” to the celestial, epic guitar layers of “White Washed” and the crushing weight of “Thirty and Seven,” the album contains zero filler tracking. It is a timeless piece of alternative art that defined an entire generation of heavy music culture, securely retaining the crown as the definitive, ultimate number-one record in August Burns Red’s historic career.

Also Recommended – August Burns Red Frontman Jake Luhrs Reveals Overcoming Brutal Depression, Altering His Voice for Heaviest Album Ever, and More on The Loaded Radio Podcast

FAQ: The August Burns Red Album Discography

What is the primary focus of the August Burns Red discography?

The catalog is defined by its strict adherence to technical, breakdown-driven metalcore that bypasses standard pop choruses in favor of complex odd-time signatures, intricate guitar counter-melodies, and emotionally vulnerable themes.

Has August Burns Red ever changed their primary lineup?

Following the early 2006 structural additions of iconic frontman Jake Luhrs and multi-instrumental bassist Dustin Davidson, August Burns Red has maintained an ironclad, completely identical five-piece lineup for over two decades.

Which August Burns Red albums have been nominated for Grammy Awards?

The band has secured two separate official Grammy Award nominations for Best Metal Performance: first in 2016 for the tracking masterpiece “Identity” (off Found in Far Away Places), and second in 2018 for the single “Invisible Enemy” (off Phantom Anthem).

The Masters of Lancaster Heavy Music

Formed in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 2003 while the founding members were still attending high school, August Burns Red emerged as a critical vanguard that transformed metalcore from a niche, underground hardcore subgenre into a globally dominant commercial art form. Eschewing the typical rock-star clichés of self-destruction and internal ego drama, the band built an empire rooted entirely in technical work ethic, complex musical proficiency, and a message of spiritual perseverance.

By seamlessly blending complex odd-time signatures and jazz-influenced structures with deep lyrical evaluations of mental health, grace, and redemption, they transcended the typical limitations of aggressive music. Entering their third decade with an ironclad, original line-up and a reputation as one of the most visually high-velocity live acts on the global circuit, they stand as undisputed gatekeepers of contemporary alternative culture.

Now that our definitive countdown of August Burns Red’s complete discography has officially been carved into the stone, the floor belongs to the Loaded Radio global family. Does Constellations still hold the undisputed crown on your personal stereo, or is their modern progressive material scaling its way to the top of your playlist rotation? Sound off with your personal album rankings and favorite breakdown tracks in the comments section below!

Never miss an official album tracking breakdown, an exclusive artist interview feature, or breaking autumn tour routing updates. Download the free Loaded Radio App for [iOS App Store] and [Google Play Store] today to command our live 24/7 high-decibel digital audio stream and catch our Daily Podcast on demand.

The post August Burns Red Albums Ranked: The Ultimate Definitive Guide to Lancaster’s Metalcore Blueprint appeared first on Loaded Radio.

Deathcore force To The Grave have officially announced their signing to BLK II BLK label. To mark the new chapter, the band have unleashed “Eyestalk Ablations”, their first new music since mid-2025.
Read more…

The OBGMs previously had the banana man in question stage diving at one of their past shows.

The post End It’s Facebook Disappears Amid Banana Man Fallout, Escuela Grind & The OBGMs Rally Behind Banana Man appeared first on Theprp.com.

This is the fifth album from US doom metallers Khemmis. If you’re a fan of Khemmis, then a new record from the band is a big deal. If you’re not, you must check out Absolution, Hunted, Desolation, and Deceiver, as well as this new one. We’re in self titled territories here, which usually Means Something. … Continue reading “Khemmis – Khemmis (Review)”

Their catalog varies in sound — and quality — but there's at least one winner on each album. Continue reading…