August Burn Red - Phantom Anthem

It’s probably because I’ve kept myself from being inundated by the slew of Christian metalcore out there (such a huge portion of Christian metal this century has been metalcore), I actually didn’t mind re-opening my ears to it with August Burns Red’s new album here. While I love the uplifting tone so much of Christian metalcore takes on, the scene (if you want to call it that) is not the most inventive and picking a few bands out of a hat would probably give a quick insight into just how similar a lot of the groups sound in the genre. August Burns Red have always played to the same positive vibe their contemporaries have, but they have consistently made a conscious attempt to spice up their metalcore and break from the usual metalcore structures that entrap their peers. Phantom Anthem is yet another prime example of August Burns Red writing at a level visible above the average. It’s not a mind-blowing release; it’s still a familiarly metalcore album, but for an uplifting, Christian-vibe album it’s one of the more interesting ones to put on.

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