Image: August Burns Red [Official Press Photo]
This June, August Burns Red will release their brand-new studio album Season Of Surrender (available for pre-order here). The record marks the eleventh full-length release for the US band and is, according to their own statements, the “heaviest album” they have ever made. This fact is something that simply happened naturally rather than being forced during the creative process, as frontman Jake Luhrs told us in our interview.
"It wasn't the primary goal. At least for me. Maybe for JB and Dustin,” he laughs, playfully shifting the “blame” onto his colleagues JB Brubaker (guitar) and Dustin Davidson (bass). “For me personally it’s much more of a very emotional album,” he confesses. To achieve this, he tried to push himself to the limit, especially vocally, to pour his feelings into the songs. Producer and vocal engineer Grant McFarland provided excellent support throughout. "We truly had a great synergy."
An Album with a Large Dose of Personality
The fact that it is very personal is also evident in the first single, “Behemoth.” Along with the album announcement, August Burns Red launched the track complete with a music video. The audiovisual output conveys exactly the emotions that Jake Luhrs packed into the piece. “Music videos are a good way to present your art in a different way and to tell some stories.” This is also what they aimed for with “Behemoth.” “There’s a lot of storytelling in 'Behemoth'!” says Jake. “It’s about me telling death, ‘No, you’re NOT doing this to me!’ Making decisions, breaking free, and going your own way, stuff like this. I think that was something I really wanted to express with the song and the video.” And he succeeded:
In total, Season Of Surrender contains eleven songs, all of which are intended to convey a special message. Three of these tracks are features. We can look forward to guest appearances from members of The Devil Wears Prada, Polaris, and Make Them Suffer. How exactly did these collaborations come about? “We just love those bands,” Jake laughs. “It was very important to us to feature bands and singers that we have a special connection with.”
The selection of Sean Harmanis and Alex Reade for “Cerebral Malfunction” was shaped by a very specific process. “In the song, there is a passage where we technically altered my voice to make it sound female,” Jake Luhrs explains. "When I wrote the song, I had this vision. A vision that this section needed to be sung by a female voice, a huge angelic voice. It was so funny, because Alex even said, ‘Oh, I’ve got a cold, I’m not sure if I can pull this off,’ and then she steps into the booth, records it, and BOOM —we were completely amazed, I've never heard something like that before. So amazing."
Could we perhaps expect a live performance at a festival or even a joint tour? The ABR frontman smiles. "We would love to do a tour with Make Them Suffer. Let's see what the future brings." He is certain that the collaboration will work well live.
August Burns Red Moving with the Times
August Burns Red have been in the business for 23 years. More than two decades in which a lot has changed. Bands today have completely different possibilities at their disposal than ABR did in their early days. Artificial intelligence, social media, and more are shaping the scene today more than ever—and the trend is rising. Would Jake want to trade places with younger artists? "This question is very hard to answer. Because I kind of have the best of both worlds, you know,” he admits. “I learned how to do everything from absolutely nothing, and now I can see what today’s technology offers.”
Social media is both a curse and a blessing, but he draws more positives from it. "I mean, I can talk to people on the other side of the world without having to fly there,” he laughs. “Nah, kidding. I think if you don’t move with the times, you’ll fall behind. What’s important for young bands is to put some personality into their music, you know."
Season Of Surrender shows once again how strongly emotions can positively influence the sound. "If your goal is just to make money from your music and get the most out of it, then sure, for for it, use the technology and build your songs that way. But if you really want to feel it, feel your art, you can only rely on those tools to a certain extent. The rest has to grow from within."
Season Of Surrender Pre-Order + Autograph Card
Season Of Surrender will be released on June 5, 2026, via Fearless Records.
Secure our Impericon-exclusive & limited colored vinyl plus an autograph card for the first 100 orders as well as brand new merch starting now!
