August Burns Red show the pandemic's impact on their album in mini doc

August Burns Red released their ninth studio album Guardians last month amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and they’re back with more new content for fans to immerse themselves into.

The band are revealing a new mini-documentary as part of Fearless RecordsFearless At Home livestream event today.

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The mini-documentary is focusing on the band’s creation of their new album and how their situation changed overnight. They were touring with Killswitch Engage as well as Light The Torch which was canned right at the beginning over venue capacity limits.

It sits at about ten minutes in length and is compiling footage from their live shows spliced between interviews with the members from their homes.

You can check it out below.

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We also caught up with August Burns Red guitarist John Benjamin “JB” Brubaker to discuss how they feel about releasing their album in the midst of the pandemic, what they’re excited to play when concerts can happen and more.

“I think the weirdest part is knowing we have an album that our fans love and we have nothing we can do with it. Yes, people can listen to it, but normally we’d be playing shows, promoting new songs in a live environment, engaging with our fans face to face nightly. It’s just strange. We are completely handcuffed. I feel like we’ve just pushed the pause button on everything. We are proud of Guardians and so happy people love the record. That’s the silver lining here,” says Brubaker.

They also reveal two tracks they’re particularly excited to play live.

“Yes, there are two songs actually. I can’t wait to play ‘Bloodletter’ and ‘Paramount.’ ‘Bloodletter’ is quite possibly the heaviest song we’ve ever written and people have been talking about that song a lot. I love to see the crowd go hard to a heavy song and I think ‘Bloodletter’ will get people going nuts. ‘Paramount’ is one of my favorite songs on the album. It’s heavy but also intricate. There’s a lot going on with that song and I know our fans are pumped on it. ‘Paramount’ was destined to be heard in a live setting.”

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As for how they’ve been keeping connected with their fans, the August Burns Red guitarist says they’re extremely grateful for their loyal fanbase and they’re staying active on their social media.

“We’ve been talking about how loyal and supportive our fans are long before there was a global pandemic. We seriously have the most amazing fans. We released a record when no one could go out and buy it and we charted way higher with more units sold than any of us were expecting. It just goes to show how deep their loyalty runs. I literally had a tear in my eye when I read our week 1 chart positions. Our fans have also been donating money through our Spotify page to raise some money for our crew guys who are just stuck right now. We are very grateful for that.

Read More: August Burns Red remind us to be empathetic with latest “Paramount”

I think we do a pretty good job of engaging our fans on social media. This COVID-19 mess has certainly increased our amount of social media time and activity. If people comment on our stuff, we see it. We keep a close eye on what our fans are thinking and feeling. I think it’s important for us to connect with them on that level. ABR wouldn’t be where we are without our listeners and we want to have a relationship with them.”

Touching on their favorite part of participating in Fearless Records’ livestream event, the guitarist says it’s fantastic to see everyone coming together for a positive event to keep the spirit of music alive.

“I just think it’s so cool when people come together for a greater good. There’s been so much pessimism and negativity the past few months. Uncertainty is a frightening thing. This Fearless At Home event gives people an opportunity to disconnect from everything for a few hours and enjoy something they love. It’s special because we all miss music and the live setting so much, but Fearless is helping to bring a piece of that back. We have to keep the spirit and fire of our music scene alive even though we can’t be together in the same room. It’s too important to let it go.”

What do you think of August Burns Red’s new mini-documentary? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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