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In a musical environment that values style at least as much as substance, many bands embrace one over the other, or attempt to walk a tightrope between excessive showiness and serious, honest song craft. Atreyu have firmly established themselves on the side of solid songwriting, tight arrangements and musicianship with their previous albums, Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses and The Curse. A Death-Grip on Yesterday takes their dedication to new heights with great metallic rock songs, mind-boggling guitar runs and the dynamic brutality they are known for. The album was produced in collaboration with Josh Abraham, known for his work with Velvet Revolver, Korn and Staind; it shows off Atreyu’s trademark incendiary guitars and soaring choruses with a thunderous rhythm section framing each track. Lyrically, Atreyu comes out swinging, with solid blows against hypocrisy, betrayal and corruption. “This record is a journey for me,” singer Alex Varkatzas said, “It is shedding the past and growing beyond it, and all that it entails.”The album was written in just two months in the fall of 2005 and with pre-production nailed down a few weeks later, Atreyu descended on Pulse Studios in the Silver Lake section of Los Angeles. The band discovered that in producer Abraham and engineer Ryan Williams they were able to deliver their songs with a whole new dimension of heaviness they had been looking for. “The talents of Josh and Ryan made things sound bigger and meaner than they ever had,” commented Alex. Drummer/vocalist/songwriter Brandon Saller agreed, saying, “Sonically, they really knew how to get the sounds we wanted. This record was very natural for us. We just kind of poured ourselves out for this one; it came more naturally than anything we’ve done in the past.”The album kicks off with “Creature,” a razor sharp track that embodies everything that makes Atreyu unique; vocal interplay that flaunts the melodic lines of drummer Brandon as they slam against the enraged roars of front man Varkatzas. “The Theft” builds arena-sized backgrounds of lush synth, joined by pretty guitar figures and a graceful vocal that breaks hard against Varkatzas meaty counterpoint. “Ex’s and Oh’s” takes Atreyu into more traditional rock territory, with sharp hooks and a truly spectacular guitar solo that makes it from strong to colossal. While “Ex’s and Oh’s” is the first single from A Death-Grip on Yesterday, Atreyu contributed an exclusive song to the soundtrack album for Underworld: Evolution, which debuted at #1 it’s first week with 27.6 million dollars in ticket sales. The video for “Her Portrait In Black” is inter-cut with footage from the movie and has enjoyed massive plays from the online sites in the past few weeks since its debut on Yahoo! Music.Atreyu exploded out of Orange County in 2002. Previously unknown to the rest of the world, the band released their stunning debut album, Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses, grabbing the attention of a wide spectrum of music fans by demolishing the barriers between rock, melodic hardcore and metal. The band’s original, unique music hit like a lightning bolt in hard music circles, energizing audiences and redefining the hardcore sound Southern California was known for. Critical raves poured in from publications like LA Times, Guitar World, and Metal Maniacs, who commented, “…the Southern California five-piece brings new definition to overnight success.” Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses has scanned 230,000 units and shows no signs of slowing down.Atreyu headed home in late 2003 to write and record their second album, The Curse. The cathartic process transformed the band. “We were in the van for two years, and it seemed like every time we left home, there would be a crisis with someone close to us, and there was nothing we could do to help. Eventually the van becomes like an isolation chamber in which we internalized every trauma or negative experience.” Alex explains, “When we came home and starting writing the album, everything came pouring out, with the intensity of something new. It was really cleansing.” The Curse went on to sell 300,000 copies, with magazines like Rolling Stone calling it “Pure Awesomeness”. Atreyu played Ozzfest in Summer of 2004, lead a sold-out headlining world tour, and rocked the main stage at Warped 2005.With one of the top slots on Taste of Chaos Tour 2006, Atreyu are poised to reach a huge audience and captivate them with their genre-bending metallic rock. Their headlining slot on Ozzfest’s second stage for summer 2006 see them in front of heavy music fans across North America. Their dynamic guitar assault combines brilliant single-note leads and pummeling power chords, offset by the melodic and guttural vocals. “We blend it to make a prettier dark picture,” Alex comments. With their new album, A Death-Grip On Yesterday, Atreyu have honed their personal style even more, exceeding all expectations and expanding the boundaries of metallic rock yet again.
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