Atreyu

Lead Sails Paper Anchor

Written by: PP on 01/10/2007 04:04:53

And I had already thought Orange County metalcore band Atreyu couldn't get any worse. I already hated their previous album "A Deathgrip On Yesterday" because it was so poppy and mainstream, and contained none of the elements that made the band one of the forefronters of the metalcore scene during the "Suicide Notes And Butterfly Kisses" and "The Curse" albums. So without expectations, I popped in "Lead Sails Paper Anchor", the band's fourth album, and hated everything about it from the first note.

Everything about this album screams mainstream and major label, while the actual screams within the album are pretty much non existant. Metalcore? Hah, wishful thinking. Take all the poppy elements from "A Deathgrip..", replace them with even more pretentious sounds, and add in ripping off from ten completely irrelevant genres for this band. Why does Atreyu have gang vocals on "Honor"? Why does "Falling Down" have a bouncy power-pop beat and a chorus that contests Linkin Park in its boringness? Why does "Becoming The Bull" sound like Papa Roach? I'm listening to this and I'm wondering if Atreyu somehow missed the crucial years when nu metal was pushed nearly to extinction.

You can probably imagine me listening through these songs and banging my head against the wall, thinking "what the hell happened to songs like 'Bleeding Mascara' and 'My Sanity On The Funeral Pyre'?". Not even a second on "Lead Sails Paper Anchor" suggests that this band once wrote those songs. These new styles just aren't working out for Atreyu. "When Two Are One" is pretty much the only track with any significant screaming or aggression it in, and it is subsequently also the only track that's worth mentioning at all.

Forget it. I have nothing more positive to say about this record. For a band that was once credited for having some of the most talented guitarists on the scene, descending to the level of "Lead Sails Paper Anchor" is just not acceptable. We have Papa Roach already, and I admit that I have a liking to them, but you guys aren't them. And you don't sound good. I'm glad I saw you on "The Curse" tour, before you guys turned into corporate crap. As Sputnikmusic's review nicely summarised it: "Atreyu aim for the middle and hit a tree".

2

Download: When Two Are One
For the fans of: Papa Roach, AFI, Hoobastank
Listen: Myspace

Release date 28.08.2007
Hollywood Records

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