Lancaster metalcore vets August Burns Red are at the top of their game with their new EP. Words: Aliya Chaudhry Nearly a year after releasing their 4/5‑rated album Guardians, metalcore heavyweights August Burns Red return with the Guardians Sessions, full of bonus content. The six-track EP is split evenly between B‑sides, covers and reimagined versions of album tracks – all of them outstanding. It opens with the groove-filled Standing In The Storm and the soaring, heavy-hitting Icarus, two blistering metalcore tracks that were recorded for Guardians, but ultimately didn’t make the record. As usual, JB Brubaker and Brent Rambler are impeccable on guitar, with complex, soaring riffs, but their playing here is so good that the songs don’t even need vocals, and about halfway through this EP, the band dispenses with them entirely with the second half being completely instrumental.