“What started out as a band for fun turned into something we look to [pursue] …,” says Doug Fellenbaum, drummer for metalcore band Ace Augustine. Then he tacks on the part that makes anyone over the age of 30 cringe: “… after high school.”

With less than a year of experience under their belts, not to mention an age range of 15-18 years old, the members of Ace Augustine are still walking around with that new car smell in their clothes. In fact, the lineup as it stands now was only finalized over the winter with the addition of keys player Brandon Klinger. Regardless, the six Lancaster natives are off to a strikingly auspicious start, having already shared the stage with several national bands and sparked a fan base within the same hometown underground hardcore and metal scene that catapulted August Burns Red onto the Billboard charts.

“Being a band for not even a year and having so many great things go on for us is really exciting,” Fellenbaum says. “We are trying to make something out of our band at an early age so that when the time comes after school, our future is already out there.”

Inspired by hardcore and metalcore bands du jour like A Day to Remember, The Devil Wears Prada and Underoath, Ace Augustine (“Ace” is an acronym for “After Common Era” and “Augustine” comes from the “Saint Augustine”) plays a brand of metal so rhythmically oriented that even the breakdowns have breakdowns. Underneath Kyle Irwin’s white-noise shrieks and guttural ogre-isms, the band chugs away mathematically, sidestepping occasionally for a pop-friendly chorus or upbeat, double-time verse.

Over the winter, the band headed into Carson Slovak’s Century Studios for the recording of its first album, The Glory of Trumpets. If all goes according to plan, the EP will be released by a yet-unnamed label sometime this summer. Running parallel to that goal for Ace Augustine is the desire to communicate with its fans about the members’ shared Christian faith.

“We try to spread the word of Christ on stage through our music, hoping to reach out to kids about having experienced God’s magic without the drugs and alcohol,” Fellenbaum explains.

With an airtight recording, youthful determination and a little holy magic on its side, it’s safe to say that Ace Augustine has potential. If the members can fend off distractions like homework, parents and those doting teenage scene girls (good luck), Generation Z, or whatever we’re on now, might have a new favorite band.