(antiMusic) August Burns Red's new album, Constellations hits stores this week. To celebrate the release we asked JB Brubaker and Matt Greiner to pick some of their favorite tracks from the album and tell us the stories behind the songs. They more than came through! Here is today's song "Thirty and Seven": JB Brubaker "Thirty and Seven" was the second song I wrote for the record. I kind of had a feeling it might be the opening track for the record based on how hard it hits right off the bat, and the fact that it is simply a nice segue between our previous record "Messengers" and our new record "Constellations." It has the heavy off time break down stuff, a bunch of fast thrashy parts, and some big melodic parts, all of which I think people expect from us.
This song didn't go through too many changes when we brought it together as a band. We added the little ring out double bass part after the first breakdown in practice. That was Matt's idea and I think it works nicely to transition into the darker middle section of the song.
Matt Greiner The lyrical content of this song is inspired by the story told in 1 Samuel 11 where David sleeps with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah. David, in a desperate attempt to cover up his sin, wrote the leader of the army a letter stating, "Set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck down and die." Uriah was killed in battle and David married Bathsheba and continued on with his life, but he would later reap the wrongdoing he had sowed. God struck the child that Uriah's wife gave birth to, and it became ill and died.
The song refers to people who cover one sin up with another until they've created a disaster they can't remedy on their own. The lyrics ask the reader to question their dependency on others to get through tough times. The last line in the song offers encouragement in finding freedom from your shame; "You've reached the summit, now transcend the skies."
I wanted to make the first half of the last riff in the song really fast and chaotic while Jake screamed, "What will become of you," over and over again. At the end of the part we pause momentarily before going halftime into the same riff. I think the lyrics are conveyed well through the chaotic music, transitioning into the huge and open 2nd half.
Learn more about the band, preview tracks from the album and more - right here!
