4.5 stars out of 5

It isn’t often that a metal band successfully uses a cello and it’s even more rare that a band is able to come back from a bad release. August Burns Red accomplishes both on its most recent release, Rescue & Restore.

The album opens with a riff that is more aggressive than anything from the band’s previous release, Leveler, as if to send a message to any long-time ABR fans that the band we know and love is back. While breakdowns of the first two tracks are comforting to those who came to appreciate the band for its raw energy, the acoustic guitar and cello bridge of “Treatment”seems to be ABR’s way of saying it isn’t content with simply re-releasing an early album with a different name to please the crowd.

Though Leveler was more dynamic than any of the band’s previous albums, the frequent instrumental bridges—featuring acoustic guitar or instruments not hooked up to a distortion pedal—often felt forced and like an excuse to show off the band members’ musicianship.

Leveler failed because it lacked the intensity and emotion that ABR fans connect with. So when the band’s Instagram of guitarist JB Brubaker playing a banjo-looking instrument called a bouzouki, I wrote off Rescue & Restore entirely, but I’ve never been more wrong.

A band typically has two choices following an unpopular album: Either revert back to what made it popular or continue forward from the last album, hoping the fans will accept its new sound the second time around. Usually, the latter results in disaster for bands brave enough to try it. However, the guys from ABR stuck to its goal of creating a less-metal album and lived up to their rather appropriate album title, both rescuing and restoring their sound.

So why did it work this time? Simply put, the band learned lessons it needed to from the last album: timing is everything, and good breakdowns never hurt.

The lengthy bridges of Leveler didn’t work because it disconnected the listener from the emotion that is usually present in ABR’s music. It often felt awkwardly placed and always seemed to drag on too long. This time around, Brubaker and his bouzouki, cello and other instruments complimented the heavy parts that surrounded them, and unlike before, moved me more than a simple breakdown could.

Tracks like “Count It All as Lost,” “Animals” and “The First Step”exemplify this, providing a strong contrast between heavy and calm, which together make the listener appreciate each part individually.

However, when it comes to breakdowns, Rescue & Restore does not disappoint. Soft bridges and acoustic instruments aside, the principle reason Leveler did not work was that it lacked the aggression that drives people to metal and specifically to ABR. From the slightly dissonant intro song, “Provision,” the album’s opening track,to the controlled chaos of a 15-second drum fill, which marks the end of the album, in “The First Step,” Rescue & Restore will have its listener’s attention.

ABR is back. Rescue & Restore is a nearly flawless example of what happens when a band holds its ground and perfects the sound it wants rather than taking the easy way out to appeal to fans. This album is both heavy and dynamic, and while at times sounds a little over-produced and disingenuous, it offers a moving experience that is fun to listen to the whole time.