According to the press release that accompanied this CD, Atreyu sound like ‘Hatebreed meets Slipknot‘. Not something I have to say that makes me really want to listen to this record. And after listening to it I can safely say that it’s still not something that floats my boat. Because ‘Suicide Notes And Butterfly Kisses’ is quite frankly awful.
This Southern Californian quintet are as far detached from the usually sunny and poppy So-Cal scene as you can get. Depression, pain, desire – there’s some fucked up shit going on here. It’s pretty hard to exactly pigeonhole what genre this mob really are. Let’s face it, we love to throw band’s together in stupidly named groups, but Atreyu are one of those that you just cannot put a name to. Too extreme to be emo, too many curveballs to be hardcore and not metal enough to be, well, metal, this lot are just in a genre of their own. However, it’s certainly not a genre bursting with good songs.
The ironically titled ‘A Song For The Optimists’ kicks things off, but rather bizarrely Alex Varkatzas’ vocals just cannot be heard in the mix at all. If this is supposed to be the desired effect then I’d be surprised. Whilst what the lyric book tells me reads well, damned if I can hear it. Actually all I can hear is a watered down Cradle of Filth. Which isn’t good… ‘Dilated’ is better musically, but again the vocals are far too low in the mix and just aren’t my thing. Alex doesn’t sing and he doesn’t scream, he growls and it’s just not good. Whilst some bands can gauge the perfect subtleties between hardcore and melody (I’m looking at you Thursday), the first two tracks offer very little other than third-rate, seen-it-all-before hardcore. ‘Ain’t Love Grand’ is much better, with some singing kicking the song off before we descend into the now infamous growl. But at least the dynamics are better and the vocals can be heard.
‘Living Each Day Like You’re Already Dead’ is again pretty generic, the same old scream-a-thon with plenty of disposable riffs thrown over the top. ‘Deanne The Arsonist’ is pretty forgettable, as is ‘Someone’s Standing On My Chest’. Impressive individual musicians they may be, but that doesn’t compensate for the complete pile of poo eminating from my speakers when you put it all together. ‘At Least I Know I’m A Sinner’, is shock horror, a fantastic song, with emotion and melody combining to create a bloody brilliant track. Think Thursday or Taking Back Sunday in a chainsaw duel and you won’t be far off.
‘Tulips Are Better’ is also a vast improvement on most of the dross here, with pace and an element of melody. It’s not just a load of riffs thrown together to create one big noise. Ditto ‘A Vampire’s Lament’ where singing is again the order of the day, and believe it or not it actually works! Although they do still come across like a hardcore version of the likes of Thursday, when Atreyu play their cards right they sound half-decent. So why they go back to the Cradle Of Filth-esque openings of ‘Lip Gloss And Black’ is a mystery. The song does get better as it goes along, but it’s pretty much instantly forgettable. Come the end of the week this won’t be on my stereo, that I can guarantee.
Atreyu are fantastic lyrically, so it’s a real shame that the vocals are either poor, or way too low in the mix. Throw in some fantastic musicians and you’d hope to get a better end product than this. This record is a perfect example that shows you can be technically gifted, but at the end of the day it’s the songs that count. And Atreyu‘s, on the whole, just aren’t very good.
Paul Savage