The art direction of August Burns Red's third album strongly suggests a vintage early-'70s metal album by some little-remembered band -- probably British -- working in the Black Sabbath tradition.
First track "The Truth of a Liar" opens with a vintage-metal scream and Tony Iommi-style riff, maintaining the connection to the past, but from that moment onwards, Messengers stays largely connected to the present day.
The vocals aren't quite the usual Cookie Monster cliché, but they're definitely in the contemporary death metal style, and the unison riffage and hyper tempos are equally of the moment.
Still, elements of vintage '70s metal do thread through these 11 songs, rather like a less snarky version of the Eagles of Death Metal or any of the Kyuss-inspired stoner metal bands without the bongwater buzz.
In a metal scene where few of the subgenres intermingle like this, Messengers is a welcome change.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Truth of a LiarAugust Burns Red | August Burns Red | Play | 04:12 | 9 MB | 34 MB |
| 2 | Up Against the RopesAugust Burns Red | August Burns Red | Play | 05:04 | 11 MB | 40 MB |
| 3 | Back BurnerAugust Burns Red | August Burns Red | Play | 03:42 | 8 MB | 29 MB |
| 4 | The Blinding LightAugust Burns Red | August Burns Red | Play | 05:28 | 12 MB | 43 MB |
| 5 | ComposureAugust Burns Red | August Burns Red | Play | 04:13 | 9 MB | 34 MB |
| 6 | Vital SignsAugust Burns Red | August Burns Red | Play | 03:17 | 7 MB | 26 MB |
| 7 | The Eleventh HourAugust Burns Red | August Burns Red | Play | 04:05 | 9 MB | 33 MB |
| 8 | The BalanceAugust Burns Red | August Burns Red | Play | 03:21 | 7 MB | 26 MB |
| 9 | Black SheepAugust Burns Red | August Burns Red | Play | 03:53 | 8 MB | 31 MB |
| 10 | An American DreamAugust Burns Red | August Burns Red | Play | 04:41 | 10 MB | 37 MB |
| 11 | RedemptionAugust Burns Red | August Burns Red | Play | 06:16 | 14 MB | 49 MB |
| 48 mins | 110 MB | |||||
| 48 mins | 385 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | August Burns Red | Audio Production, Composer, Primary Artist |
| 2 | J. B. Brubaker | Guitar |
| 3 | Ryan Clark | Design |
| 4 | Jonathan Dunn | A&R |
| 5 | Dustin Davidson | Bass Instrument |
| 6 | Troy Glessner | Mastering |
| 7 | Matt Greiner | Drums |
| 8 | Jerad Knudson | Cover Photo |
| 9 | Jake Luhrs | Group Member, Vocals |
| 10 | Tue Madsen | Audio Production, Mixing, Producer |
| 11 | Brent Rambler | Group Member, Guitar |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |