I can't say I was particularly pumped for a new August Burns Red album in 2026. Between incessant overexposure and diminishing returns across their last couple of records, it really felt like the band had run their course. The Pennsylvanians are arguably more popular than they've ever been, and apparently there are a lot of people who count Guardians (2020) and Death Below (2022) among their best work. For me though, they are easily their weakest, fully succumbing to the overstuffed technicality and seemingly random flights of fancy that make Leveler (2011) and Rescue & Restore (2013) similarly lesser entries in their discography. Like those records, they also came in close proximity, with their similar sound and aesthetic not really allowing either one to really develop its own identity. Add to that the several superfluous live albums, endless remix/anniversary editions, multiple b-side EPs and annual Christmas releases the band have put out over the last ten years, and it was safe to say I'd had my fill of these once mighty metalcore maestros. These lowered expectations, however, ultimately helped set the stage for what I think is easily the best album August Burns Red have delivered in almost a decade.
While Season of Surrender isn't a complete return to form for the band who previously gave us genre-defining albums like Messengers (2007), Constellations (2009) and Found in Far Away Places (2015), it is a welcome and forceful reminder of just how good they can be when they cut away all the chaff and focus on writing the best, rather than the wildest, songs they can muster. With Season of Surrender, August Burns Red have seemingly rediscovered the power of the riff. This is made immediately clear by lead single "Behemoth" which sounds more like something Unearth would put out these days, built around a big, stank-faced stomp section, rather than the noodly mush that has populated the last couple of August burns Red full-lengths.
While I might just find this particular approach more personally appealing, I also think the added directness and groove make for a more instantaneous and memorable experience overall. The band haven't sounded this heavy or direct since Phantom Anthem (2017)—a severely underrated record, and my personal pick for the last great ABR album—but they also haven't sounded this tight and passionate either. This accentuated aggression is felt across Season Of Surrender's entirety. "Den of Thieves" follows suite, with an added Killswitch Engage melodicism and flair, while opener "Legions" (featuring The devil Wears Prada's Mike Hranica) ends with the biggest and sickest riff the band have dropped since "Quake". Meanwhile "The Nameless" is a very Meshuggah-inspired track, built around a big djenty bend and a Fredrik Thordendal-style scatter solo, and closer "Forged by Failure" even touches on Vildjarta-n "thall" territory.
Not all of my gripes with modern August Burns Red have been resolved here. Jake Luhrs' vocals, while distinctive, remain relatively constrained compared to metalcore vocalists of similar stature, and it's been a long time since they've written a chorus or hook as massive or memorable as "Truth of a Liar" or "Thirty and Seven" or "The Frost",* although the short-lived "S.O.S." breakdown comes close. This is especially noticeable when Polaris' Jamie Hails and more distinctive and dynamic vocals show up and steal the show, along with some more melodic spoke sections, on "Sonic Salvation", or the members of Make Them Suffer do on "Cerebral Malfunction". As much as I enjoy this album instrumentally, I kept longing for similar supporters to show up and breathe life into its otherwise fairly monotonous compositions. The production—courtesy of longtime collaborators Carson Slovak and Grant McFarland (The Ghost Inside, Erra)—is also still a tad concussed, although it feels noticeably richer compared to their last two records, which might have something to do with the refined songwriting approach described above.
My only other criticism is a specific and largely serendipitous one, which is that "Forged by Fire" really should have been the opening track, instead of the closing one. I only came across this realisation when my phone accidentally played the album out of order one time, but even before that I was a tad put off by how expected and uneventfully "Legions" kicks in, and was startled to find how much more I enjoyed the record and even "Legions" itself when prefaced with this more adventurous and brooding build-up. The triumphant "New Horizons" is also a far more satisfying closer and "Forged by Fire" also works as a signal that there are still new and expanded sounds to be found within the album's contents and would go a long way toward combating the dull familiarity I found when first confronted by its more predictable presentation.
Season of Surrender isn't quite a return to the form of August Burns Red's early career, and is unlikely to be hailed with even the same reverence as that which greeted Guardians and Death Below. For my money though, its a far superior album to either of those two that brings back a lot of what I love about and think has been missing from their sound since Phantom Anthem. It's also a record that has kept growing on me with every new listen, especially after moving "Forged by Fire" into pole position. It's hard to imagine why I wasn't initially blown away on first listen at this point, and with a few more I could even see it eclipsing some of their more entrenched releases in my esteem—especially of they manage to correct its few minor shortcoming on the inevitable remastered anniversary edition.
*No, that one with Jesse Leach doesn't count, because Luhrs didn't sing it, and also it sucks.