Since launching out of Manheim, PA, the industrious outfit has successfully transitioned from shake-up-the-field upstarts to one of the biggest names worldwide in the genre. On stages across the U.S. to Europe, Japan, Australia, South America and more, from renowned fests such as UK’s Download Festival to the Warped Tour, which they join again in 2013 as a mainstage act, AUGUST BURNS RED have spent years taking their music and message directly to fans, and in the process have grown into one of the leading forces in the modern metal scene, a fact bolstered by their 1.4 million Facebook fans and more than half- million albums sold. With so many bands in the heavy music scene seemingly intent on madness, AUGUST BURNS RED aren’t afraid to branch out, weaving in elements of other influences from punk to indie to rock. The band artfully blend piano, cello, violin, trumpet, various percussive elements and more into their sonic arsenal, taking their music to new aesthetic heights and contorting the boundaries of heavy music. “At the end of the day we are still a very heavy band,” explains guitarist and principal songwriter JB Brubaker. “We still have plenty of really heavy stuff, techy odd meter riffs, and all the stuff that people have come to expect from us, it just has a lot more surprises along the way.” Even if some people don’t realize that music needs to be saved from falling neatly into easily digestible boxes, this band is doing its part anyhow without a hint of cynicism. There’s an earnest sincerity behind AUGUST BURNS RED’s desire to continue to warp the constraints of what it means to be a metal band. “With every album we want to get better as musicians, as songwriters, as performers. We all genuinely love what we are doing and that is great motivation to always try to improve and expand,” Brubaker says. “I think our best days are still ahead.”