ATREYU ushered in a new movement in heavy music. Their music seamlessly intertwines with formative experiences for a diverse legion of dedicated listeners, many of whom started their own bands. They’ve broken into the Top 10 in the Billboard 200 more than once; two of their albums are certified gold. Yet, two decades since the release of their first album, ATREYU is just getting started.
Unbound by false restrictions about any particular anthem sounding “too heavy” or “too pop,” ATREYU is a creative beacon of hope for the people shaken by the suggestion that “rock is dead.” The Orange County, California band’s riffs, hooks, melodies, and passion are essential parts of a vibrant subculture’s emergence across theaters, clubs, festivals, radio, and playlists. And the artistic fearlessness powering landmark albums like The Curse and Lead Sails Paper Anchor is even stronger.
ATREYU’s unquenchable appetite for creative achievement, and pursuit of a shared catharsis on stage, is what drove them to form the band as teenagers around the turn of the millennium. It pushed them beyond their do-it-yourself beginnings to massive festival stages (including two runs on Ozzfest), sold-out headlining tours, movie and game soundtracks, and appearances alongside fellow genre standard-bearers, including Linkin Park, Avenged Sevenfold, Deftones, Slipknot, and Bring Me The Horizon.
A bold chapter in the band’s never-ending story of determination, Baptize is a definitive work for a new era. Like 2018’s In Our Wake, ATREYU recorded Baptize with producer John Feldmann. Guests include Jacoby Shaddix (Papa Roach), Travis Barker (blink-182), and Matt Heafy (Trivium). Songs like “Warrior,” “Catastrophe,” “Save Us,” and “Underrated” are massive. They stand confidently alongside ATREYU bangers like “The Time is Now,” “Becoming the Bull,” and “Bleeding Mascara.”
Adeptly combining the sounds of thrash, hardcore punk, and the New Wave of Swedish Death Metal, ATREYU quickly evolved to a place where fans of everything from Linkin Park to Lamb Of God could come to the party. Adventurous, ambitious; ATREYU is best described, plainly, as a loud rock band.
As one prominent hard rock critic observed early in the band’s career: “If you haven’t figured out these guys are aiming for a bigger sound by now, you might want to try cleaning out your ears.”
