The thing about being a band that plays metalcore is it’s a bit like being a painter who only uses the colour black. When your fans are expecting Cookie Monster vocals, down-tuned riffs and technical lead breaks, there is only so much you can do. August Burns Red have always been good enough to do metalcore well, but the limits of their genre mean that I’ve never been blown away by them. That’s why it was a nice surprise when the metal uproar of second track “Internal Cannon” subsided and an almost Latin sounding interlude came to the fore. Leveler is packed with these little surprises and they lift the album from competent to quite good, at least musically.

The lyrics on Leveler are similar territory for this genre, vaguely biblical statements sung/screamed with Lord of the Rings grandiosity. “Self-righteousness is your demise” and “Tyrant, ring the bells of repentance” are two examples of the epically cheesy lines that are this band’s stock in trade. August Burns Red might not have completely shaken off the chains of their genre with this album, but they’ve taken a few promising steps.

Three and a half stars out of five

– Rhett Snell