August Burns Red is a metalcore band from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They started in March 2003, when the members were still in high school, and practiced in drummer Matt Greiner's old egg house and basement on his family's farm. The lineup hasn't changed since 2006: guitarists JB Brubaker and Brent Rambler, Greiner, singer Jake Luhrs and bassist Dustin Davidson.
Solid State and Messengers
They put out an EP on CI Records in 2004. Singer Jon Hershey quit that year and Josh McManness replaced him. In 2005 the band signed to Solid State Records. Their first album, Thrill Seeker, came out on 8 November 2005, produced by Adam Dutkiewicz of Killswitch Engage.
McManness and bassist Jordan Tuscan both left in 2006, and Luhrs and Davidson came in. Messengers, released on 19 June 2007, was Luhrs's first album with the band and the one that broke them. It reached No. 81 on the Billboard 200 and was their first No. 1 on the Top Christian Albums chart. Their instrumental take on "Carol of the Bells" was used in trailers for the 2008 film The Spirit.
Climbing the chart
Constellations (2009) debuted at No. 24. Leveler (2011) sold 29,000 copies in its first week in the US and opened at No. 11. Rescue & Restore (2013) got to No. 9 on the Billboard 200. Producers Carson Slovak and Grant McFarland have worked on many of the later records.
The band moved to Fearless Records for Found in Far Away Places (2015). It also debuted at No. 9 and topped the Top Christian Albums chart again. Its song "Identity" was nominated for a Grammy for Best Metal Performance, and "Invisible Enemy" from Phantom Anthem (2017) got the same nomination two years later. Guardians (2020) and Death Below (2023) came next. Back on Fearless, they released Season of Surrender on 5 June 2026.
Believers, not a Christian band
For much of their career, people saw August Burns Red as a Christian band, and they've spent years pushing back on that. Brubaker told Shout! that "Christianity is a religion and not a style of music." Luhrs said in 2014, "I'm a believer in Jesus Christ...that doesn't mean because all of us are Christians we are now a Christian band." Greiner later said the band dropped the Christian label in 2012.
How they play
August Burns Red play technical, melodic metalcore with odd time signatures, long guitar leads and breakdowns. Lots of their songs don't have a chorus at all. Brubaker writes most of the music, and the whole band votes on what the lyrics should be about. They rose through the same Solid State roster as Underoath and Norma Jean, and they toured with Underoath and Emery in 2009.
