Atreyu – A death-grip on Yesterday

Well, I suppose I should review the durned thing if I’m going to buy it. For those of you in the know, This is Atreyu’s third release ("Suicide Notes and butterfly Kisses", then "The Curse" are the first two). This album feels like a continuation of "The Curse". Similar style of play, similar style of music. However the lyrics are a little more bitter, a little angrier. The lead singer continues to do the whole, scream/sing alternation. Which still works just as well as before. You’ll like it just as much or hate it just as much as before.

Musically, There is some progression from "The Curse", But there is still enough similarities that there is no issues with changing ‘trademark’ sounds. Tracks 1 through 3 hold no real suprises in that sense. Track 4 "The Theft" changes gears, starting off with a mid-tempo sequence that that made me raise my eyebrows. Balladish, certainly it is a track that seems to beg for Fuse or MTV airplay. Is that a good thing? Hmmm, depends. Certainly it’s more … accessible… than the first track. Some good quotes in the song, but there seems to be something lacking.

 A Side note here, is it an album or Ep? there are only 9 tracks, Compared to The Hunger’s 15, Death-Grip on Yesterday, seems almost too quickly over. Which means that I enjoyed the album overall, but it still is slightly dissapointing that the cd clocks in 33 minutes. which in my books is closer to EP Material than a Full Length LP…

"We Stand Up" Kicks the album back in gear with a good sequence of driving guitars, and a great little solo that stands out because it’s not the typical solo. The lyrics are a bit trite; but you know, sometimes I’ll accept a Triteness if the point is gotten across.

"Ex’s and Oh’s" The first track Single? Maybe. I suppose there is something to be said for getting airplay. It’s catchy, and the Dueling solos are kinda nice, Makes me think of Maiden. But Atreyu doesn’t have galloping Bass. Meh. I think they’ll be sorely dissapointed by the results of this song as a single.

"Your Private War" Now, I feel like I’m listening to Atreyu again. There is no doubt this song could be happily on either Suicide notes or on The Curse. Unfortunately, it feels like too much like a ‘generic’ Atreyu song. Though The lyrics are impassioned and Angry enough.

"My Fork In the Road (Your knife in my back)" Points for a rather catchy title. good intro riffing, Musically, actually, I think this song might be the best one so far. Another thing that stands out, is The singer keeps pushing himself to sing at a higher pitch than what one might expect. Does it work? Meh, it doesn’t NOT work. but it doesn’t totally grab you either. I think I feel slightly sad during this song, partically from the energy of the track, but also because I really think that had Atreyu made more songs like this, The album would be a much stronger album.

"Untitled Finale" Hmmm, is something really untitled if there’s a word after Untitled. We could examine the psychological implications of an "Untitled Finale" but I suppose we’re here to discuss the song. It’s… ok… But I want more… I expect more from the songs. The ending of the song is spectacular, but…. argh, I want more. I keep thinking, there has to be more to the song, and by extension, when the album ends, I’m thinking, that’s it?

maybe this song would be a good single. But. *grabs his hair* Give me A coda! give me something to come back powerfully one more time, instead of just ending.

Sadly, I’m considering this production to be the weakest of Atreyu’s 3 albums. Not because it’s terrible, but because it feels unfinished, I can’t seem to accept the album as is.

4 out of 10

(grading scale is 1 out of 10, 1 being absolute crap, 10 being spectacular, with  a skewed bell curve, conceptually average is about 7 (since by definition i’m reviewing stuff *I* bought and thus, stuff I expect to like) 8 is above average, and good, 9 is spectacular, and 10 is a rare number indeed If you see a 1, you know I’ve probably microwaved the CD. a 2 tells you that I put it in a dark corner of my room and hope to forget that the band put out something that bad.)

4 – Really, It’s not BAD, but I expected more, and thought there should have been something more from the release. The reasons vary, but 4 is an over all dissapointment, though not crushingly so.

Other CDs by this band

"Suicide Notes and Butterfly kisses" – 6.5

"The Curse" – 8