(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 "Existence": JB Brubaker The first riff of "Existence" came to be from me modifying a slow sludgy riff Dustin had written. We'd jam on it for fun and one day I was like "hey, this would be cool if we played it higher and sped it up like 70 BPM." It went through a few more tweaks as I was fitting all the parts together, and I really like how it turned out. We haven't really done a whole lot of repeating parts in the past, but the opening riff made perfect sense to come back in the middle of the song and tie everything together.
"Existence" is the first time I've ever written in any sort of pentatonic guitar solo. I was definitely a little nervous when presenting the idea to the rest of the guys, though I thought it was pretty awesome. Dustin always thought the solo sounded too "80's metal" but everyone else liked it so, to my great satisfaction, we left it in there.
I think "Existence" is one of the most complete metal songs we've ever written. It has a lot of different parts but they all tie together nicely. It has a sweet guitar solo towards the end and a heavy powerful ending. We think this will probably be a song we'll eventually shoot a music video for but we're a fickle bunch so who knows.
Matt Greiner I worked for a local landscaper for 5 years, prior to quitting college and pursuing August Burns Red as a fulltime gig. The lyrics for Existence came to me as I was mowing yards in a local, ritzy development called Stonehenge. To own a house in the development meant you had to be (or at least appear to be) rich. From their nice cars to their private tennis courts to their obnoxious dogs (treated more like humans then pets), these places looked like they were straight out of the movie Chum Scrubbers. And, like the movie, these people faked happiness; they lived life like it was a game. They had all that money could buy but would hide their insecurity under their glitz and glamour. They were financially secure, personally insecure people that depended on their own accomplishments to provide happiness.
The song ends with one of the most dramatic and one of my favorite vocal parts where Jake screams, "You're hurt, you're broken, that's alright, that makes us who we are."
We decided that the 'flammy, Foo Fighters inspired' drum fill after the first breakdown would work well in transitioning from Thirty and Seven into Existence. I think it helps tie tracks 1 and 2 together quite nicely, and helps make Existence one of our most cohesive songs to date.
I had jaw surgery in mid-2008 and was bedridden for about 3 weeks. During this time I had the idea for the polyrhythm near the end of Existence. The rhythm is in 13/4 and repeats 4 whole measures before the 6/8 lead comes in for 8 measures. I'm really happy with how this part translates; especially with Jake's vocals and JB's lead complementing the rhythm's odd time signature. This polyrhythm is definitely the hardest part of the song for me and took me forever to get tight in practice. Naturally my ear wants to follow JB's lead in 6/8 and it's a constant struggle to zone it out and focus only on the rhythm.
Learn more about the band, preview tracks from the album and more - right here!
