The Never Ending Breakdowns

It’s been a while since we heard from Atreyu. Southern California’s hair metal hardcore kings took a bit of a hiatus, leaving their fans clamoring for their crushing hair metal solos over their soul bruising breakdowns. Well wait no more Atreyu fans – Long Live is here.

When we last saw them they were delivering us hook filled metal and this album is no different. The screaming singing duets by Alex Varkatzas and Brandon Saller have not changed. Alex still is as brutal as he has ever been and Brandon is still singing the clean choruses.

The big difference on Long Live is that there is almost an epic feel to the majority of the album. Lots of sing-along choruses, similar to the feel of the album’s lead single “Do You Know Who You Are,” a track with a foot stomping intro that could have come from any Queen album. “I Would Kill / Lie / Die (For You)” and “Moments Before Dawn” also share that triumphant melody in the chorus. It’s a very big sounding album.

The most reliable aspect of Atreyu is the guitar work from their axe swinging guitarists. Dan Jacobs and Travis Miguel seem to be completely in sync on this album. Over the top solos fly above crushing drums. On tracks like “Moments Before Dawn” and “A Bitter Broken Memory,” riff after riff pummels the listener while big chorus after big chorus has you singing in your seat.

Speaking of those guitarists, lead guitarist Dan Jacobs has his fingerprints all over this record, including the song “Brass Balls,” which is basically an homage to all things hair metal. His solo on this song is worth the listen and although this is not the brightest spot on the album, he brings such a great feel to it that you can’t stop yourself from air soloing along.

To sum it all up, Long Live isn’t Atreyu’s best work. Some say The Curse was that release from them. But for a band that’s been around since 1998, this is a solid return. So with that keep the never-ending breakdowns coming Atreyu, your fans have missed you.