August Burns Red @ Fillmore Auditorium

Twas an amazing show by August Burns Red at Fillmore Auditorium on 12/2/23 in Denver, CO. Opening up the night were Spite, Brand of Sacrifice and Crystal Lake.

Crystal Lake

A Japanese melodic metalcore group that folds elements of progressive and nu metal into their hard-hitting sound, Crystal Lake emerged onto the Tokyo hardcore scene in the early 2000s. Drawing from the punishing sonic assault of mid-’90s hardcore, the band, which is built around the core trio of vocalist Ryo Kinoshita, lead guitarist Yudai Miyamoto, and rhythm guitarist Shinya Hori, issued a string of demos, splits, and EPs before releasing their first full-length, Dimension, in 2006 via Imperium Recordings.

A split-LP with Austrian rockers Cleave arrived in 2008, followed by high-profile Japanese shows alongside Parkway Drive and Shai Hulud. The group’s sophomore full-length effort, The Great Beyond, was issued in 2011, followed by the Cubes EP in 2014. In 2015, the band inked a deal with American label Artery Records and JPU Records in Europe and the U.K., and released their third long-player, The Sign, with True North arriving just one year later. The band moved to Sharptone Records for album number five, 2018’s hard-driving Helix.

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Brand of Sacrifice

Brand of Sacrifice are a brutal technical deathcore band whose members reside in Toronto and New York City. As an extreme music entity, they are unusual; their raison d’être is based on the cult anime/manga series Berserk. Lead vocalist Kyle Anderson describes their music as “the death metal of anime.” Their sonic approach employs elements from hardcore and technical death metal with dual guitars, blastbeat drums, and guttural, filthy vocals. That said, they also utilize elements from outside the confines of extreme music. The Interstice, their 2018 debut EP, included sitar solos, a full choir, horns, harp, lyre, and other early instruments. The group’s 2019 full-length, Godhand, made a strong showing on the Heatseeker chart and was followed in 2021 by Lifeblood.

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Spite

A decibel- and soul-crushing deathcore unit based out of Southern California, Spite employs a lethal blend of death metal, metalcore, and neo-nu-metal. Their original lineup issued the debut album Stay Sick in 2017. They followed with Root of all Evil in 2019. After signing with Rise Records and several personnel changes, they re-emerged with Dedication to Flesh in 2022.

Formed in the Bay Area and featuring the talents of vocalist Darius Tehrani, bassist Stephen Mallory, guitarist Alex Tehrani, and drummer Cody Fuentes, the band issued an independent EP, Misery, followed by an eponymous full-length before inking a deal with Attila frontman Chris Fronzak’s Stay Sick Recordings. The band’s first LP for the label, Nothing Is Beautiful, was released in July 2017 and drew comparisons to contemporaries like Thy Art Is Murder, Acacia Strain, and Suicide Silence. Spite continued to push against the boundaries of heavy music with the punishing Root of All Evil, which appeared in 2019.

Following a tour of summer and fall festivals, the band underwent some personnel changes, adding guitarist Lucas Garrigues and replacing Mallory with Ben Bamford and Fuentes with ex-Emmure kitman Josh “Baby J” Miller (half of Darko with Tom Barber). In November, they issued the video single for “Made to Please,” followed in January 2022 with “Caved In.” In June, they delivered the single “Hangman.” Co-produced by Alex Tehrani and Matt Guglielmo, their third album, the 12-song Dedication to Flesh, arrived in August along with the single and video for the set’s title track. The album reached number 14 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart.

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August Burns Red

Metalcore band August Burns Red strive to deliver a positive message along with the forceful attack of their music. Their sound is technically precise, with carefully aimed volleys of guitar (both harsh and melodic) and howling vocals paired with rigorous, unrelenting rhythms, often employing unconventional time signatures. Along with the aggressive performances, however, ABR avoid the darker themes common to metalcore, instead urging their listeners to better themselves and the world around them. The group first found their feet creatively with their second album, 2007’s Messengers; 2013’s Rescue & Restore was a success with both critics and fans, and earned ABR their first Grammy nomination; and 2017’s Phantom Anthem was another effort that earned enthusiastic reviews and was a chart success. They topped Billboard’s Christian Albums chart with 2020’s Guardians before returning with 2023’s Death Below.

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