August Burns Red Presents: Sleddin' Hill, A Holiday Album

Every year I slog through Christmas music, hoping it'll inspire me like it used to, but every year it starts to sound monotonous... until I found this album. Metalcore meets Christmas, and does it WELL. ABR managed to take a genre sometimes beleaguered by formulaic and predictable writing, and make creative, interesting, exciting Christmas music with it. Appropriately placed break downs and blast beats, full of humor and never missing a single note of melody, this album has been my only Christmas listen of 2016 so far (yes, it was released 4 years ago, I'm behind). For $5 on amazon at the time of this writing, why not give it a shot?PROS:1) Lead guitar plays all of the melodies to perfection, and usually adds a harmonized/unison track.2) Drummer never misses a hit, never sounds like he's trying to keep up, but rather NAILS it perfectly, each time.3) Track-to-track variety (from heavy metal anthems, to upbeat rock, to folk, to straight metalcore) that demonstrates a real creativity and pushes the boundaries of the genre (IMO)4) Nearly entirely instrumental (can be shared with others with screamo-sensitivity)5) Musical surprises throughout, such as occasional strings, piano, even banjo and acoustic breakdowns6) Two original tracks that again show creativity and fit well with the spirit of the album (and Christmas)7) Odd meters, syncopation, quick picking, unisons - the band is actually quite technicalCONS:The ONLY con I have for the CD release is it doesn't include "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" or "Joy to the World". I'm not sure if those were on imported releases, or digital only, but they are two of my favorite tracks, and I was very sad not to see them on the CD release here.Still, if you're looking to break up the monotony of slow, ballad-y type Christmas music, grab this album and get ready for a fantastic ride.

There is a serious lack of holiday-themed metal albums and thankfully August Burns Red did their part in helping fill this void. August Burns Red is an American metalcore band, but the album is almost entirely instrumental, so do not worry if you are not a fan of harsh vocals. The instrumentation is extremely technical and the band knocks out some classic Christmas melodies perfectly. The highlight of the album for me, though, is the two original tracks, Flurries and Sleigh Ride, that embody the holiday spirit so well in a heavy format. This is an album you need to have on hand for the Christmas season (and also a good one for getting others into the genre).

I love Christmas music - it's the one time of year we can hear songs about Jesus every where we go.I load my iPhone up with Christmas music and listen almost non-stop from late Nov til early Jan.But every once in a while I need to crank out Demon Hunter, Disciple, Skillet, or Red to fill the spot in me that needs it loud. Because for too long, Pillar's "God Rest Ye Merry Gents" and P86's "This Time of the Year" were my only Christmas songs my wife was afraid of.But now I have an entire album of very hard and very beautiful instrumental Christmas music. No idea how I missed this last Christmas!Incredible album.

This is a great Christmas album for any Rock/ Metal head in your life. ABR, even wrote two of the songs on this album. It isn't just pure heavy guitars, this is a band that understand Music theory and has a great blend of music.

It’s a really great alternative (metal) version of some classic Christmas season songs. It’s a good gift for the person in your life who thinks Christmas music is nauseous but who still likes the holiday season.

I love this album! I ordered it for my husband for Christmas, and he loved it. I've always wanted a Christmas Album and we're fans of August Burns Red and this album is amazing! The songs are amazing and really get you into the Christmas Spirit!

Every single year I look for Christmas music that is Rock style, and every year I am disappointed. Not this year!!! This is the album I've been waiting for!Songs are great. My wife is not a heavy metal/rock person and she likes the album too. I am a heavy metal/rock person and I love it!I've never seen an album with such a high rating, and there's a good reason. These don't come along very often. Rock your holidays this year!

Yup....it rocks. Super duper heavy. My four year old rocks out way hard to it. Can't pick a favorite because they all rock. Cannot express how incredibly heavy this is. The best part is that you(at least I did) get the feeling that the Red fellows have a deep connection to Christmas. I hope I'm not wrong but I remember hearing they were a Christian influenced Metal band.Seriously buy this because you can't possibly be disappointed. I am still listening to it and it is mid January.

the ONLY christmas album worth having.

great

All the classic Christmas songs all re-arranged for metal-core, true brilliance. I recommend this item to anyone who like metal and Christmas!

Metal Christmas is just awesome!

Everything was great and the album came earlier then expected.