Kev Rowland I first really started paying attention to Atreyu with the release of 2004’s ‘The Curse’, but although I grabbed all their albums up to 2009’s ‘Congregation of the Damned’ I hadn’t realised they had got back together after the hiatus following that to release an album in 2015, and here they are now back with the next, the seventh in their career. It is hard to believe that Atreyu have been together for twenty years now, as they still sound as angry as ever, mixing that aggression with melody and metal to create a sound designed to throw a mosh pit wherever they play. I also put them into the same category as Killswitch Engage and Avenged Sevenfold, all bands out there creating their own masterpieces and not worrying about the rest of the scene. There are parts of “The Time Is Now” which one would say belongs far more in the canon of their recent touring partners Slipknot than Atreyu. These guys have been turning it up and cranking it even harder than they used to, and took inspiration from their classic ‘Lead Sails Paper Anchor’ as they experimented and brought all the ideas under the Atreyu banner.

There is a freshness, which has been brought about by the way of working. “Every song with the exception of two was fully written in the studio,” says Brandon Saller (drums, vocals). “We’d split off into groups and crank out two ideas per day. We’d never written a fresh idea from scratch every day. Spontaneity makes things flow so much better though. We also never spread an album out like this either. We laid the foundation with five recordings, sat with them, and finished with a better picture of where we wanted to go.” Atreyu are very much back, and this reminds me so much of why I loved ‘The Curse’ when it was released. Methinks I need to dust that one off and put it on, as this has reminded me of what a poweful band they are. Superb.

unholy For a metal band, Atreyu is wildly popular. They have this month’s cover of Revolver, a magazine, to be fair, that actually gives a broad view of the metal scene. Their newest release, A Death-Grip on Yesterday, debuted on Billboard at number 9, showing a definite shift in the musical tastes of American teenagers from Rap to Metal.

In a way that seems like a good thing.

The only problem, is that this kind of metal, while fun to see live, is fairly toothless. They almost deliver a killer riff, and then they go the other direction, turning on the Catchy-Tune Machine. Nonetheless, Atreyu are a good band. Of that there is no question. Or, anyway, they can write solid songs. Emo-Core songs, though. And that’s the problem.

Call me rigid-thinking, uncreative, curmudgeonly (seriously, you’d call me ‘curmudgeonly’? – who do you think you are?), but metal should only cover the following sacred subjects: wizards, elves, Vikings, Satan regrouping his forces, anti-establishment politics and re-telling stories about soldiers who have lost their arms and legs in WWI. There is not much room for moody tunes about love, loss and rejection. That’s why we have Boy Bands.

Oh, wait. Hawthorne Heights……ahh, crap.

Admittedly, metal is a strange beast, given to being completely ridiculous on the level of Professional Wrestling/Gwar, while on the other being deadly serious. But, not in an overly emotional way. Or, tenderly emotional way. Or, a healthy emotional way.

Metal is not about being Healthy!

See what I mean? It’s hard to exactly say. All I know is, romantic loss and hum-able tunes usually crash and burn in the world of metal. Despite the marketing machine behind bands like Hawthorne Heights, despite getting them in metal mags and on tours with other, actual, real-live metal bands, they are still Poison with modern equipment. They are Warrant for kids too young to remember Warrant.

Atreyu does not cover any accepted metal topics, unfortunately. They tackle the more thoroughly trodden ground of the suburban teenager; to be exact, that one at the mall who works in the record store, with the long, dyed-black floppy hair, laughing at everyone who buys all that Top 40 crap.

Well…except for bands like Atreyu, that is.

That isn’t to say A Death-Grip on Yesterday is not good. It is good. It’s fun to listen to. Well, kind of. Or, at least, it’s survivable.

I just don’t think this could hold out for very long. This is not a repeated-listen kind of an album. For instance, track 4: The Theft. This song actually starts off with a radio-friendly, Guns n’ Roses, November Rain-ish style intro before breaking into what accounts for Mall-Punk in 2006. Mall Punk and G n’ R. That’s not a great combo.

Kids will like this, but it is a dead-end as far as metal goes. It is not even metal, really, but it will be called that until it becomes normal for screaming and shouting to be played on your local Top 40 rock station. Metal is not designed to be Top 40, so, as Hardcore/Emo-Core goes, Atreyu are sure to be hated by many, since they will be played played regularily by whichever despot owns the radio dial for the masses at your local community college/institute for higher education.

I honestly feel bad for them. As soon as their target audience gets 2 or 3 years older, they will turn on this band and suck them dry like the vampires all fans of that age are. You were/are there: you know what I mean.

Sadly, for Atreyu, their career will not be a Never-Ending Story.