August Burns Red: Still Uncompromising
Ahead of August Burns Red’s upcoming Australian tour, The Note caught up with drummer Matt Greiner to discuss Australia, the full-length, salsa-core and so much more.
Words Will Oakeshott // Image supplied
Pennsylvania’s progressive metalcore innovators August Burns Red have adored Australia since their first visit 17 years ago. Having just finished touring the US with Queensland’s pop-metalcore royalty The Amity Affliction (including support from Melbourne’s mosh-metallers HEAVENSGATE), ABR will again soon be venturing Down Under for the sixth time in celebration of their eleventh studio album, Season Of Surrender.
The new LP also features Polaris’ Jamie Hails and Perth’s Make Them Suffer, maintaining the band’s admiration for our charming country. The Note caught up with drummer Matt Greiner to discuss Australia, the full-length, salsa-core and so much more.
“True success, true happiness lies in freedom and fulfilment.” – Dada Vaswani.
This articulation from the U Thant Peace Award winner and Indian Spiritual Guide Jashan Pahlajrai Vaswani can essentially be analysed in two parts: “freedom” and “fulfilment”. These two concepts are immeasurably significant to Pennsylvania’s progressive metalcore trailblazers August Burns Red, who undertake an artistic “freedom” with their brand of ferocious heavy music. Remarkably, the five-piece continues to explore a fascinating array of sounds and genres that they incorporate into their sonic landscapes and have masterfully followed this groundbreaking pathway since their inception in 2003.
The other is “fulfilment”, an accomplishment the quintet achieve with every release and with every sweat-filled performance they undertake on stages across the globe.
For percussionist and original member Matt Greiner, fulfilment begins at a much smaller scale. The drummer actually acquires that sense of satisfaction and restoration from completing any task at home, but primarily, he improves after he undertakes an intense drumming session.
“I think it's the sense of accomplishment. I'm very task-driven, and I also think there might be something else where I like to have things in order. Someone pointed this out last year, and drumming is quite literally putting things in order, like resolving something. If I can both play it well and I can get back to the 1,2,3,4,1 - (he vocally drums in counting rhythm), if I can land that, there's something about the…”
He trails off abruptly, as if deciphering his own character momentarily, then continues – “I don't know if it's ADD or OCD, I never thought about it that way, but I'm doing a lot more teaching on tour. I've taught about 85 students on this tour, and a lot of them are 10 and under. I'm seeing that trend now. Maybe it's because I've been thinking about it, but it's true. [Essentially] I am a better husband, I'm a better dad if I'm playing drums, and it's something that I've procrastinated quite a bit over the years, and every time I get to it, I'm like: ‘Thank God I did it, it was the best thing I have done today’; but, it takes me effort to get to the kit. Which sounds funny if you are a drummer for fun, and you have another job - why would it take effort? Well, because it's my job, and the stakes are high. So, what I've learned is the most important thing I can do is lean into the thing I'm good at. I believe God gave me drums for myself, as well as to play for other people.”
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The constant hard work and striving for improvement have certainly paid off for Mr Greiner and, undoubtedly, for August Burns Red. While they have many accomplishments that can be identified as “true success”, including two nominations for Best Metal Performance at the Grammys for their compositions ‘Identity’ (2016) and ‘Invisible Enemy’ (2018), their international recognition, however, arguably stems from their artistic integrity.
It could be stated that ABR embrace a “modus operandi” of freedom when the Pennsylvanians are in writing mode. The five-piece follows a trajectory of discovery, pushing the boundaries of where metalcore can journey. One prime example is the single ‘Internal Cannon’ taken from Leveller (2011), which features a samba clean section, a salsa-esque solo, and another part inspired by a Quentin Tarantino film soundtrack.
“Oh, salsa-core, yeah (laughs)! I know exactly what part you're talking about,” Greiner admits, then commences to air-drum in a re-creation of playing the charismatically complex song.
“I've always trusted JB (Brubaker, guitarist) with arts - if he likes it, I generally say, okay. I might not have an opinion one way or the other. But, if he thinks this is cool, then I'm going to try to figure out something to write that's cool to it. I remember going into the studio, and that part in particular, I had something written based on what he had written, like a stock drumbeat. Jason Suecof (producer) helped me come up with that part, which has a double stroke in it, so that I can get over to my 10-inch tom (drum) and hit that important tom accent in it that makes it salsa-y. I would say, this new album has less of that, and more of just a return to syncopated off-time tight breakdowns, catchy melodies, straight-ahead stuff from our earlier days.”
Retrospectively, not one of ABR’s albums is necessarily “straight ahead”. The soon-to-be-released Season Of Surrender does showcase potentially the quintet’s most ambitious cinematic (cinemetalcore?) monument yet, entitled ‘Forged By Failure’. A wondrously adventurous track that could be utilised in possibly the next instalment of the Lord Of The Rings series.
“That’s great, I like that!” Greiner discloses with a beaming smile. “The way that we wrote for this album was - we were more, [and] I was more invested into the different parts. I spent more time writing them, which means I had more time to memorise them, so when I went to record them, I hit with more power and intentionality, and my performance was better. So, there was less editing; I think Carson (Slovak, producer) would say this. It was just a better capture because I was better prepared. So, I would say I had more fun, just in general, putting this album together - recording it, because I wasn't as pushed.”
The elation carries on for August Burns Red, in September the band will return to Oz to leave heavy music devotees in ‘The Wake’ of their metalcore annihilation. It therefore plagued this writer to ask what Matt remembers from the five-piece’s first venture Down Under with Parkway Drive?
“So many epic moments on that tour! I remember jumping in the shark-infested waters next to the Opera House, next to Luna Park, before we played. Someone in my band bet me like $50 that I wouldn't do it, and I stripped down to my underwear and jumped in and swam. Those were awesome shows, just an awesome tour! I feel very thankful to Parkway that they brought us over.”
What can the spectators expect from August Burns Red 2026? Rozalla’s ‘Everybody’s Free (To Feel Good)’ again?
“We're gonna be playing some new songs - we're actually playing them right now on tour, and they're a highlight for us, and our fans are really liking them. Maybe a drum solo? Expect a good time - I love playing with my band, because we know how to keep it fun, keep it lively.”
“True success, true happiness lies in freedom and fulfilment.”
Catch August Burns Red performing at The Gov on Tuesday 29 September. Tickets on sale at oztix.com.au.
