August Burns Red Release Cover of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas”

August Burns Red have released their annual Christmas cover (or what I’m told is their annual Christmas cover — honestly, the only one I even vaguely remember is their take on Wham!’s “Last Christmas” back in 2017). This year, they’ve tackled Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas.” You can check out the instrumental cover at the bottom of this post. Or you can just imagine an instrumental heavy metal cover of the song.

I’m saying there’s nothing really surprising about ABR’s take on the material.

ANYWAY, this is metal’s second run-in with Carey’s holiday hit this month, after a mash-up with Metallica’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls.”

Additionally, August Burns Red have announced the details of their yearly Christmas Burns Red concert, which, naturally, will be a virtual online event this time out. The event will take place on Saturday, December 12 at 8pm EST/5pm PST.

The event will mark the band’s first opportunity to play songs from their most recent release, Guardians, live, since that album came out right in the midst of the pandemic. The livestream event will “also feature the biggest and most festive Christmas Burns Red stage setup ever,” according to a press release.

Says lead guitarist JB Brubaker of Christmas Burns Red 2020:

“Doing an annual holiday show has been a long-standing tradition for ABR. This will be our 15th consecutive year, and we didn’t want to let COVID-19 end the streak. While we are bummed we can’t play for everyone in person, we are doing everything we can to make sure that this year’s Christmas Burns Red is bigger and better than ever. This will be our first time playing a bunch of new songs off of Guardians, and we are putting the finishing touches on our biggest stage production to date. We can’t wait to play for you again!”

Tickets and merch bundles are available here.