First album of theirs I actually enjoy! love Legions and Cereberal Malfunction plus transition to Tears of The Clouds
I felt like the previous ones I listened to were all very same-y. This one there is definitely some change ups that I’m digging
i got into them with death below and became even more invested after the re recorded thrill seeker. those two are still tops, but they’re a very consistent band and i can throw on any of their albums when im in the mood for this very specific brand of metalcore. they’re like darkest hour in that way.
The band is pretty consistent. I don’t think they have a bad album. I think their best are Constellations, Season, Messengers, Guardians, and Leveler
im trying to think of what id say are their most dynamic albums. Id say Rescue & Restore, Phantom Anthem, and Found In Far Away Places are. The former is probably my fave album of theirs and the latter is probably my least fave haha. Maybe Death Below is on that list too. they really are a very samey band for albums on end imo though. not necessarily a bad thing, just my opinion, others may disagree.
Season is def adjacent with their better albums I think. and hot off the heels of the excellent Thrill Seeker remake. FIFP, Guardians, and Death Below are pretty boring on average imo.
Id like to see Dustin write riffs for a whole album, just give himself time and push himself. the riffs here remain like a big “ive heard this before”. this album somehow overcomes that partly but man idk how much longer they can keep going with it tbh, and plenty of their other recent songs from other albums dont overcome it at all. the other two guitarists are extremely comfortable and they just havent progressed in many ways like other metal guitarists tend to do. theyve gotten better at songwriting or structuring but they havent learned how to keep the riffing fresh at all. they need alot of help rhythmically, and theyre also still putting out some extremely bland solos which for me calls greatly into question their knowledge of scales and melody for a metal band. you can tell when its a Dustin solo and when its a JB solo for both the disparity of taste and skill.
That thought always gets expressed in threads for bands with a tried and true formula but IMO they can do it as long as they want, because they have the live show to back it up, and people will always go see them because they rip live.
fair point im sure theyll do it exactly as long as they want and the fans will stay too, itll just be kinda the same thing over and over again unless they actually push themselves and or make dustin be the leader i will say there are many lesser bands than ABR who try less and write less i am a fan of this band for sure and i have kind of a vested interest in them because of my early music days and my childhood friends fandom
first album of theirs I've liked in a long time it feels like. Legion might take over Back Burner for my favorite breakdown in their catalogue. Absolute heater
First ABR record I’ve enjoyed since Leveler (which, how the heck is that 15 years old already???). Legions is a dang barn burner
Leveler lived off the good will that Constellations bought, though I can see new fans not really understanding why older fans might like it more than later albums. Also Internal Cannon and Poor Millionaire are awesome.
leveler is a solid album but the rerecording generally improves a lot about it. the two albums surrounding it are way better though
at the time i didnt enjoy constellations as much as messengers, but i still liked it. now it probably holds up as good or better, its probably got more purposeful songs but maybe less dense of an album. for sure constellations production job i think wasnt as good.