Every longtime fan of August Burns Red has dreamt of this moment – ‘Thrill Seeker,’ in all of its glory, re-recorded with Jake Luhrs on vocals. What an unbelievable effort to bring the debut album of one of the most important metalcore bands of all time into the modern age.
For those who aren’t August Burns Red fanatics, this is a big deal because ABR had one vocalist for their debut EP in 2004, got a new vocalist for their debut album ‘Thrill Seeker’ in 2005, and then finally got Jake Luhrs in 2007 for ‘Messengers.’ Jake has been the vocalist ever since, appearing on all eight subsequent ABR albums. Longtime fans always wondered what ‘Thrill Seeker’ would have sounded like if he were in the band in 2005. Now we have the answer.
One of the biggest challenges of re-recording an album from the 2000’s is retaining the original tone. Metalcore was a lot more raw back then. Current tools and studio magic wasn’t there to fix everything in post-production. Bands would record vocals in a closet and call it a day, but those rough edges imbued albums with a certain charm. It made the music sound more alive. Instead of studio robots, you could hear the human element as each member played their heart out.
Keeping those raw elements intact while translating the sound to fit 2025 expectations requires careful balance. Looking at another example, Miss May I had uneven results on their re-recorded version of ‘Apologies Are For The Weak.’ If Bring Me The Horizon ever decides to re-record ‘Count Your Blessings,’ they will face the same difficulties.
The most apt comparison for the re-recorded version of ‘Thrill Seeker’ is After The Burial’s re-recorded version of ‘Rareform’ with Anthony Notormaso on vocals. They both allowed the modern vocalist to go back and add their personal flair to a past album while faithfully sticking to the source material.
That being said, there are a few modifications to the original arrangement. “Speech Impediment” and “Barbarian” both have guest features. Importantly, “Barbarian” features Josh McManness, the vocalist from the 2005 version of ‘Thrill Seeker.’ Throughout the album, there is at least one guitar solo that is noticeably different and one other major change that I’ll discuss later.
In terms of vocals, Jake Luhrs did an amazing job. I’m not sure if it’s the mix, or if he was trying to follow the sound of the source material, but his screams sound closer to how they did on ‘Messengers’ and ‘Constellations,’ which are my two favorite ABR records. His screams on the newer, more progressive records have a different delivery.
It’s funny, I’ve been listening to ‘Thrill Seeker’ for almost two decades, but only with the release of the 20th Anniversary Edition did I go back and look at the lyrics. Reading along, I noticed a few things. The lyrics tell short stories with very few words. Most of the lines are repeated over and over, often cutting off and mixing the same phrases in new ways. This approach requires the vocals to constantly shift, delivering the same lines in new and interesting ways. It also results in a natural build up of tension with each repeated line until there is a release and the vocals move onto the next section.
Very few metalcore bands could use this approach today because they don’t have enough vocal variety and their instruments aren’t interesting enough to hold people’s attention. I often forget to acknowledge it, but August Burns Red is a relatively intense metalcore band. Especially in their early material, they play fast, quickly burning through ideas and moving onto the next one. That type of evolution within songs isn’t too different from the progressive styles that we’re seeing them embrace now 20 years later.
Lastly, the lyrics are Stoic. They’re about embracing the human experience, including the difficult moments, taking responsibility for your life, and rejecting materialism in favor of meaningful interaction. “What a bittersweet symphony life is, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Fittingly, I’ll close this review by talking about the closing tracks. “Eve Of The End” is a three minute instrumental that sets up one of the best August Burns Red songs of all time: “The Seventh Trumpet.” While most people recognize “Your Little Suburbia Is In Ruins,” “Barbarian,” “Consumer,” and “A Shot Below The Belt” as highlights, “The Seventh Trumpet” is an incredibly powerful album closer.
Evoking images of the end of times, this progressive masterpiece can almost get me to tear up if I sit there and really listen to it. “The stars begin to fall.” And it really sounds like they might. It takes me back to being a kid and listening and just…being in awe that music could sound like this. And that’s why it pains me to say that the one part of this re-recorded album that fails to live up to the original is the spoken word part from 3:00-3:10.
The vocalist in the original version of the song whispering “the stars begin to fall” was much more ominous. In the new version, in the moments leading up to that critical line, Jake sounds too edgy, like he’s trying so hard to be dramatic. For me, the appeal of the original version was that you could almost imagine a random bystander narrating what he’s seeing, filled with resignation as he faces sure doom.
Nevertheless, this is an incredible album and I hope it causes people to revisit ABR’s roots. The only thing left is to re-record ‘Looks Fragile After All,’ the band’s debut EP, and let us hear Jake’s vocals on the release where it all began.
August Burns Red // Thrill Seeker (20th Anniversary Edition)
Categories: Reviews
