Atreyu
The Curse

THE REVIEW

69 horizontal (well, it could hardly have been vertical unless you were Olympic champions of Twister), 8 letters: "The best album from the Orange County band named after a character from The NeverEnding Story".

The all too easy answer can only be "The Curse", eagerly awaited as a comeback for the Californians Atreyu who, two years after their good debut "Suicide Notes and Beautiful Kisses", show that they are finally ready to carve out a place of honor within the crowded emo-metal-core scene.

If indeed the vampire-toned cover and the intro "Blood Children (An Introduction)" seem to want to wink at the latest A.F.I., the two sweeps of the long hand marking the second track "Bleeding Mascara" are enough to dispel uncomfortable comparisons and understand what awaits us for the remaining 40 minutes: an incessant cascade of notes (really excellent work by the two axe-men Dan Jacobs and Travis Miguel) over which looms with force the piercing screaming of the lead singer Alex Varkatzas (the American cousin of Speed Strid from Soilwork?) whose melodic singing of drummer Brandon Saller contrasts at the level of the choruses, for a quintet setup that closely resembles bands like From Autumn to Ashes.

The start is one of those that leaves a mark, but the best is yet to come: at position number three, you’ll find what, without much ado, I would not hesitate to call the best song ever written by Atreyu as well as one of the most representative of the genre itself, namely that very "Right Side of the Bed" not by chance chosen as a single and which, thanks also to the excellent video in heavy rotation on MTV2, contributed in a decisive manner to making the band's name known to the general public at the time.

Continuing with the platter, we find other tracks of absolute thickness both among the songs more aimed at aggression ("You Eclipsed By Me", "Corseting", "Five Vicodin Chased With A Shot Of Clarity") and those with more mainstream atmospheres ("The Remembrance Ballad", "The Crimson", "Nevada's Grace"), but in general, it is worth noting that no decreases in tension are noticeable within the entire tracklist, demonstrating the high level of inspiration that permeated the recording sessions, supported by the always superlative producer GGGarth (Chevelle, FATA, Mudvayne, RATM, Spineshank, Still Remains).

Unfortunately, with their subsequent works, they have shown, with rather variable results, a desire to distance themselves from the genre they themselves contributed to making successful, to the point that it is difficult today to imagine a different answer to the question posed at the beginning of the review: as we await to see what the new full-length will bring us, all we can do is go back and listen to this extremely successful "The Curse" once more, an album that cannot be missing from your collection, especially if you are among the fans of the sounds proposed by the bulldog label.