August Burns Red announce ‘Guardians Sessions’ EP

PA metalcore squad August Burns Red have announced their new ‘Guardians Sessions’ EP featuring B-sides, covers, and reimagined tracks, which were recorded during the sessions for 2020’s full-length album ‘Guardians’ and more.

The EP will be released digitally and on 10″ vinyl on April 16th through Fearless Records (pre-order). To celebrate the announcement, the band have shared the track “Icarus,” which features a clean vocal cameo from bassist Dustin Davidson — stream below.

“‘Icarus’ was a b-side from Guardians because it just didn’t fit the vibe of the album,” states Davidson. “I’m happy that our fans can hear it now because it’s riffy and super fun to play on guitar. It’s the first ABR song that I’ve sang on, and for fans of my side project, Best Case Scenario, I think you’ll hear the influence sprinkled throughout this one.”

Lead guitarist JB Brubaker explains further, “The Guardians Sessions EP was put together on the foundation of two songs: ‘Standing in the Storm’ and ‘Icarus.’ Those songs were recorded in September of 2019, when we were finishing up our album Guardians. Both tracks got cut from the record, as we had too much material and they were the black sheep of the group. When all touring was shut down in March of 2020, we began working on a couple of cover songs and re-imagined versions of some songs from Guardians. Those songs were recorded in the summer of 2020. We wanted to be productive with our downtime and work on a project that would be fun for both us and our fans.”

Stream “Icarus”:

“‘Icarus’ was a b-side from Guardians because it just didn’t fit the vibe of the album,” says Davidson. “I’m happy that our fans can hear it now because it’s riffy and super fun to play on guitar. It’s the first ABR song that I’ve sang on, and for fans of my side project, Best Case Scenario, I think you’ll hear the influence sprinkled throughout this one.”

Brubaker explains how this EP came to be. “The Guardians Sessions EP was put together on the foundation of two songs: ‘Standing in the Storm’ and ‘Icarus,’” he explains. “Those songs were recorded in September of 2019, when we were finishing up our album Guardians. Both tracks got cut from the record, as we had too much material and they were the black sheep of the group. When all touring was shut down in March of 2020, we began working on a couple of cover songs and re-imagined versions of some songs from Guardians. Those songs were recorded in the summer of 2020. We wanted to be productive with our downtime and work on a project that would be fun for both us and our fans.”

‘Guardians Sessions’ EP track listing:
01. Standing In The Storm
02. Icarus
03. Chop Suey!
04. Westworld
05. Paramount (Reprise)
06. Extinct By Instinct (Reprise)

ABR are:
JB Brubaker (lead guitar)
Brent Rambler (rhythm guitar)
Matt Greiner (drums)
Jake Luhrs (lead vocals)
Dustin Davidson (bass)