''Constellations'' is the third studio album by American metalcore band

August Burns Red August Burns Red is an American metalcore band from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, formed in 2003. The band's current lineup consists of lead guitarist John Benjamin "JB" Brubaker, rhythm guitarist Brent Rambler, drummer Matt Greiner, lead vocalist ...

. It was released on July 14, 2009, through

Solid State Records Solid State Records is a Christian metalcore record label, an imprint of Tooth & Nail Records. Unlike Tooth & Nail, Solid State signs hardcore punk and heavy metal bands. Like Tooth & Nail, Solid State is primarily a Christian label. However, ...

and was produced by

Jason Suecof Jason Suecof (born April 3, 1980) is an American record producer, audio engineer and guitarist best known for his work with heavy metal bands such as Trivium, Battlecross, Death Angel, All That Remains, Bury Your Dead, The Black Dahlia Murder ...

Composition

Influences, style and themes

The song "Indonesia", which features guest vocals from Tommy Giles Rogers of

Between the Buried and Me Between the Buried and Me, often abbreviated as BTBAM, is an American progressive metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina. Formed in 2000, the band consists of Tommy Giles Rogers Jr. (lead vocals, keyboards), Paul Waggoner (lead guitar, backing ...

, was made as a tribute to David Clapper, a

missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

who died in a plane crash in Indonesia. He lived in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the city in which August Burns Red began. Some tracks from the album are featured in the rhythm game, '' Rock Band 2'', via the Rock Band Network.

Release and promotion

On the band's Myspace page, they released four singles from the album, "Thirty and Seven" and "Existence", with "Thirty and Seven" also available for download on the

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

. "Ocean of Apathy", the third track from the then-upcoming album, was released on Monday June 29, 2009. "Meddler" was released on July 6, 2009 and was shown on the band's Myspace. On July 7, 2009, the band posted the entire album on their Myspace page. They then would sell the album days ahead of the release at the beginning of their tour with

Enter Shikari Enter Shikari (stylised as enter: shikari and occasionally as ΣΠΤΣ℞ SΗΦΚ∆℞Φ) are a British rock band formed in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England in 1999 by bassist Chris Batten, lead vocalist and keyboardist Rou Reynolds, and dr ...

Iwrestledabearonce Iwrestledabearonce (often stylized in all lowercase; abbreviated as IWABO) was an American metalcore band formed in 2007 in Shreveport, Louisiana. In their nine years together, they released one EP, four full-length albums, and two remixed rele ...

and

Blessthefall Blessthefall (stylized as blessthefall or BLESSTHEFALL prior to 2013) was an American metalcore band from Phoenix, Arizona, signed to Rise Records. The band was founded in 2004 by guitarist Mike Frisby, drummer Matt Traynor, and bassist and ...

, starting with the

Recher Theatre The Recher is a concert venue in Towson, Maryland. It is located at 512 York Road in the building previously operated as the Towson Theatre, a one-screen movie theater. The Towson Theatre was designed by architect John Ahlers of the George Nor ...

in Towson, Maryland on July 10, 2009.

Commercial performance

The album was at No. 24 on the ''Billboard'' 200 with sales of 20,401 copies in its first week. The album also has a bonus 7-inch vinyl record, that contained an alternate version of "Indonesia" and a cover of the NOFX song, "Linoleum", as a special gift when pre-ordering through a select dealer. A second 7-inch vinyl, ''O Come, O Come, Emmanuel'', was released on November 10, 2009 by August Burns Red's former label,

CI Records CI Records is an independent record label in Lancaster, Pennsylvania owned by Jeremy Weiss. Originally created to distribute the releases of his band, Stand Up, an early 1990s melodic hardcore band, CI expanded to include releases from bands s ...

. The vinyl editions were limited to 1,000 colored discs, 400 of which were green, 400 of which were red, and 200 of which were split-colored red and green.

Accolades

In 2010, ''Constellations'' was nominated for a Dove Award for Rock Album of the Year at the

41st GMA Dove Awards The 41st Annual GMA Dove Awards presentation was held on April 21, 2010 recognizing accomplishments of musicians for the year 2009. The show was held at The Opry Entertainment Complex in Nashville, Tennessee, and was hosted by Bart Millard. Nomi ...

.41st Annual GMA Dove Awards nominees announced
on

The Tennessean ''The Tennessean'' (known until 1972 as ''The Nashville Tennessean'') is a daily newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee. Its circulation area covers 39 counties in Middle Tennessee and eight counties in southern Kentucky. It is owned by Gannett, ...

(February 18, 2010)

Track listing

Personnel

August Burns Red *

Jake Luhrs William Jacob "Jake" Luhrs is an American musician best known as the lead vocalist of American metalcore band August Burns Red. Background Luhrs first entered the music scene in Columbia, South Carolina where he was the frontman for a band kn ...

– lead vocals * J.B. Brubaker – lead guitar * Brent Rambler – rhythm guitar * Dustin Davidson – bass, backing vocals *

Matt Greiner Matt Greiner, born Matthew Wilson Greiner, is an American metalcore drummer. He's most well known as a founding member for the band August Burns Red. Greiner was homeschooled as a child. Greiner cofounded the drum company ''Greiner&Kilmer'' wit ...

– drums, piano Additional musicians * Tommy Giles Rogers Jr. of

– guest vocals on track 7, "Indonesia" Additional personnel *

– production, mixing *

Devin Townsend Devin Garrett Townsend (born May 5, 1972) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He founded extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad and was its primary songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist from 1994 to 2007. He has also ...

– additional mixing * Troy Glessner – mastering * Ryan Clark of

Invisible Creature Invisible Creature is an illustration and graphic design studio based in Seattle, Washington. It is run by brothers Don and Ryan Clark and was formed in 2006. Don and Ryan are also the co-founders of Asterik Studio (2000-2005). Clients include: N ...

– artwork * Jonathan Dunn – A&R

References

{{Authority control August Burns Red albums 2009 albums Solid State Records albums