Atreyu

If you are old enough, you may remember that movie from the 1980s called 'The Never-Ending Story' which sadly ended in a trilogy...No? Maybe try and recollect the main imaginary character by the name of Atreyu, with his silly outfit and the necklace device called the 'Auryn'? Any help? Maybe try and remember his mission was to save the imaginary world?

Well, it doesn't matter, forget all that anyway, because unlike the character in the movie, Atreyu has lived on as a five-piece metalcore outfit emerging from Orange County. Well-known for their genre-redefining abilities on three albums now, I caught up with Brandon Saller (drums/vocals) to talk about their latest release, 'A Death-Grip On Yesterday' and their second visit to Australia.

"The thing about 'A Death-Grip On Yesterday' is that we wrote that album in two months which is very quick, but that's just how we work. When we have to get down to it, we don't screw around, we just go for it. It comes naturally to us once we are in writing mode, especially with this album. We don't like to take forever to write and record."

Engineered by Ryan Williams and produced by the infamous Josh Abraham, who has worked with amazing rock artists like Velvet Revolver and Staind, the album shows more of a melodic rock sound with catchy hooks and sing-along vocals than Atreyu's traditional metal onslaught.

"We never had a plan to change our style or go lighter or more melodic or more metal or anything. We just kind of wrote what we thought and just didn't hold back. That album is just what came out for us naturally. We are stoked on it though, the way it turned out, it was a really natural process and progression, I guess. We were also so happy with Josh and Ryan's work on the album, those guys are truly amazing."

The album showcases only nine tracks, which these days is quite surprising as it delves near EP-length territory. Some may not know that Atreyu had originally ten tracks on the album, but chose to submit the track titled Her Portrait In Black to the 'Underworld Evolution' soundtrack and to not include it on the album. It dawned on me to ask why.

"Her Portrait In Black was originally on thealbum, but then the opportunity came up to have that song on a soundtrack, so we decided to go for that. Then we thought, 'should we just shit out another track so we have ten songs on the album, or should we just do the nine?' We actually did have an instrumental track that we were going to put on the album as well, but we decided not to because we were really happy with the nine and heaps confident in them.

"With the 'Underworld Evolution' soundtrack though, doing that definitely had its rewards. We got to go to the premiere of the movie, like, limo and red carpet and all that shit, went to the after-party, it was super weird, but really fun. There was a video for our song as well, which was awesome. I hope we do another soundtrack soon.

"It was certainly a different experience when you have Kate Beckinsale ten rows in front of us and Chester Bennington [vocalist for Linkin Park] sitting right next to us. It was a very cool experience that's for sure."

With the big announcement that Atreyu will be visiting our shores again very shortly, touring with the likes of Alaskan metal quintet 36 Crazyfists, progressive metal act 3 and Melbourne hardcore five-piece Carpathian, Saller admits he can't wait to return.

"We have been talking about touring with 36 Crazyfists for a while now, so we definitely thought to set that up, then 3 just kinda got added on afterwards. I think it will be cool because we are playing with bands that have never been to Australia before and it is a pretty diverse line-up so everyone can enjoy it. We love Australia because it's really similar to California, like, heaps laid back, it's actually better than California, it's cleaner and just more fun."

And what does Saller think of the support bands coming along on the tour?

"I heard some of Carpathian's stuff and it's pretty brutal so I can't wait to play with them. We can't wait to play for you guys again."

Will Oakeshott

dB proudly presents Atreyu at HQ on Tue 5 September with 36 Crazyfists, 3 and Carpathian. 'A Death-Grip On Yesterday' is out now through Stomp.