Atreyu
A Death-Grip On Yesterday

THE REVIEW

The best-selling metalcore band. With "Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses" and then, especially with "The Curse", Atreyu became torchbearers of a musical genre. "A Death-Grip On Yesterday". That's the title of their latest effort.

Confident in having a record label as important as it is attentive to sales (Victory Records) behind them, the Orange County band decided to shake things up a bit. The promotional campaign has been, and still is, impressive. The cover is beautiful, and the artwork equally so.
If it's true that length doesn't go hand in hand with the actual beauty of the album, it must be said, for the record, that the album consists of just nine tracks totaling about thirty-two minutes. Quite short, to tell the truth. The album borders on perfection in terms of production and mixing, just consider that behind the machines is a certain Josh Abraham…

"Exs and Ohs", the band's first single, highlights the first major and more significant change, namely the massive presence of Brandon Saller's melodic voice, who is also the drummer. Similar to the first single, at least from the composition standpoint, is "Shameful". "Our Sick Story" and "We Stand Up" wouldn't look out of place in their earlier works as these two tracks significantly speed up the tempo and Alex Varkatzas goes back to screaming into the microphone while good Seller's only task is the chorus, as it should be.

It is worth noting, however, that for the first time, even the screamer (Alex, that is) is capable of singing. In "My Fork in The Road (your knife in my back)", there is a solo, moreover a very nice one, clearly Maiden-esque in style. As previously mentioned, the melodic and steady voice of the drummer has taken over on this album, but one could never have expected a true ballad from Atreyu. And yet, yes, for the first time, the band writes a slow song. The title is "The Theft", and I'll leave the hard verdict to you.

In the metalcore scene, bands sprout like mushrooms and, like mushrooms, get swallowed up. Yet Atreyu remain there, still standing, and whether you like it or not, they continue to be the quintessential metalcore band.

For the others, only crumbs.