Following their annual tradition, AUGUST BURNS RED have unleashed their latest rendition of a Christmas classic, this time tackling holiday favorite, 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen'.

"The past few years the annual ABR Christmas songs haven’t been nearly as 'metal' as 'Carol Of The Bells' was," explains guitarist JB Brubaker. "When writing our rendition of 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen' I wanted to write a more traditional metal song. Something less artsy and more in your face. I am confident that 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen' is easily the most metal Christmas song we’ve ever done. While recording it I was thinking 'this song sounds straight 80’s metal' which amused me greatly."

The track is available now as a digital single or a limited edition colored vinyl 7" through the band's former label, CI Records, and can currently be previewed at the band's Facebook page.

August Burns Red recently debuted their new video, for the song 'Empire', the crushing lead track from their 2011 album, Leveler. The blistering performance-heavy video is the band's second off of Leveler, following the cinematic clip for 'Internal Cannon', which debuted in late summer.

Watch the video for 'Empire' below:

"The 'Empire' video shoot was an exhausting 8 hours of sweating and head banging," explains guitarist JB Brubaker. "But it was worth the exhaustion as I think it's the coolest performance video we ever did. I especially like the old school Godzilla looking shots that are in the middle and the coloring and filters that were applied to the post production brought everything together."

August Burns Red recently announced a 2012 North American headlining tour, marking the band's first announced dates for 2012 and their first North American dates since their summer-long stint as a mainstage act on the 2011 Vans Warped Tour.

The seven week tour runs from January 13th - March 3rd, hitting 41 cities along the way. Supporting ABR are SILVERSTEIN, TEXAS IN JULY, LETLIVE. (January 13th - 29th) and I, THE BREATHER (January 31st - March 3rd). Tickets for all dates go on sale Friday, October 28th, 10 AM local time. Purchase tickets here.

Tour dates:

January

13 - Sayreville, NJ - Starland Ballroom
14 - Baltimore, MD - Sonar
15 - Charlotte, NC - Amos Southend
17 - Charleston, SC - Music Farm
18 - Nashville, TN - Rocketown
19 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade
20 - Orlando, FL - House of Blues
21 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Revolution
22 - Tampa, FL - The Ritz Ybor
23 - Jacksonville, FL - Free Bird Live
25 - Houston, TX - House of Blues
26 - Oklahoma City, OK - Diamond Ballroom
27 - Dallas, TX - House of Blues
28 - Austin, TX - Emo's East
29 - San Antonio, TX - White Rabbit
31 - Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theater

February

1 - Las Vegas, NV - House of Blues
2 - Anaheim, CA - House of Blues
3 - San Diego, CA - House of Blues
4 - Hollywood, CA House Of Blues
5 - San Francisco, CA - Regency Ballroom
7 - Denver, CO - Summit Music Hall
8 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Complex
9 - Boise, ID - Knitting Factory
10 - Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theater
11 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon
13 - Calgary, AB - MacEwan Ballroom
14 - Edmonton, AB - Starlite Ballroom
16 - Winnipeg, MB - Garrick Centre
17 - Minneapolis, MN - Caboose
18 - Chicago, IL - House of Blues
21 - Cincinnati, OH - Bogart's
22 - Cleveland, OH - House of Blues
23 - Detroit, MI - St. Andrews Hall
24 - Guelph, ONT - Gueplh Concert Theater
25 - Toronto, ONT - The Sound Academy
26 - Montreal, QC - Metropolis
27 - Clifton Park, NY - Northern Lights
29 - Boston, MA - House of Blues

March

1 - New York, NY - Irving Plaza
3 - Philadelphia, PA - TLA