Atreyu is an American metalcore band from Yorba Linda, California, formed in 1998. The band's current line-up consists of vocalist Brandon Saller, guitarists Dan Jacobs and Travis Miguel, bassist and Unclean vocals Marc "Porter" McKnight and drummer Kyle Rosa.
The band has released nine studio albums: Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses (2002), The Curse (2004), A Death-Grip on Yesterday (2006), Lead Sails Paper Anchor (2007), Congregation of the Damned (2009), Long Live (2015), In Our Wake (2018), Baptize (2021), and The Beautiful Dark of Life (2023).
The band's second album, The Curse, was released in 2004, selling 450,000 copies. The band was then featured on the soundtrack to the film Mr. and Mrs. Smith with a cover of Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name".Phares, Heather. . AllMusic: 2005. Atreyu was also featured on the to with "Her Portrait in Black". "Right Side of the Bed" also appeared on , a racing video game.
Atreyu released its third studio album, A Death-Grip on Yesterday, on March 28, 2006. The album peaked at number 9 on the Billboard 200, with sales of 69,000. The band gained further fame when the first single, Ex's and Oh's appeared on the soundtrack to Madden NFL 07. The album was said to have a balance of Brandon Saller's melodic singing vocals and Varkatzas's aggressive screaming, and it was met with positive reviews."
Atreyu toured in the United States on the Taste of Chaos 2008 tour, alongside bands such as Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet for My Valentine, D'espairsRay, Mucc, and Blessthefall. The band also toured with co-headliners Avenged Sevenfold and Bullet for My Valentine in Australia and New Zealand. They also played the United Kingdom Taste of Chaos tour, headlining with Story of the Year and As I Lay Dying.
On April 22, 2008, Lead Sails Paper Anchor was re-released with new cover art, two bonus tracks, a DVD, and a digital booklet. From July to August 2008, Atreyu headlined the Revolution Stage of Linkin Park's Projekt Revolution. Their setlist consisted of 45 minutes of various songs. With them on the stage were 10 Years, Hawthorne Heights, Armor for Sleep, and Street Drum Corps. Atreyu was also a part of the KROQ-FM Epicenter '09 Show where they did a meet and greet to benefit the non-profit organization Music Saves Lives.
The band started a co-headlining tour with Hollywood Undead, Escape the Fate and The Sleeping in October, and as promotion of album debut songs like "Bleeding Is a Luxury" at K-Rockathon 14 in New York State Fairgrounds, Syracuse, New York., and "Gallows". Atreyu also promoted the album with five , released biweekly from September 1 to October 20. Congregation of The Damned debuted at No. 18 on the Billboard 200, selling 27,412 copies on its first week. Atreyu announced that they would be recording an EP Covers of the Damned with tourmates Chiodos, blessthefall, Endless Hallway, and Architects (UK). It was to be released on October 12, but was leaked on the internet on October 9. Atreyu toured Australia in November 2010 with the No Sleep Til Festival playing most locations with Dropkick Murphys, Alkaline Trio, Megadeth and many more. In December, along with Bring Me the Horizon they supported Bullet for My Valentine across the United Kingdom.
Drummer and vocalist Brandon Saller's side project Hell or Highwater (formerly named "The Black Cloud Collective") has recorded an album titled Begin Again released on August 9, 2011. Saller is solely the lead vocalist in this band, and this album does not feature the same metalcore elements as those of Atreyu, voicing a sound similar to bands such as Breaking Benjamin and Three Days Grace, the band uses only clean vocals.
In December 2011, Travis Miguel added his own endeavors to the list of Atreyu side projects with Fake Figures and their release of the EP "Hail the Sycophants". This project features an all-star lineup which includes Miguel on guitar, Rus Martin (Hotwire), Robert Bradley (Scars of Tomorrow), and Justin Pointer and Heather Baker who were both former members of Nightfall, a project that bassist Marc McKnight played for in 2003 before joining Atreyu. As of July 2012, Steve Ludwig joined Fake Figures as their new drummer and for around 18 months between 2013 and 2014 Travis played as a touring guitarist with Trapt.
On May 11, 2013, the band posted a statement asking their Facebook fans to repost their message "if you want Atreyu to write a new song for your ears to bleed to.", with a second statement explaining that they hope to return to a sound more reminiscent of their second studio album, The Curse.
On September 5, 2014, the band released a new song on their YouTube account titled "So Others May Live" and is available on their official website, free of charge. The band was announced as one of the acts to perform in the South by So What?! festival in March at QuikTrip Park in Grand Prairie.
Atreyu played in Slipknot's Knotfest on the weekend of October 25–26, 2014.
On April 18, 2015, a 7" vinyl was released exclusively for Record Store Day. "So Others May Live" was presented on the vinyl followed by a new song "When the Day Is Done". Only 1,000 copies were made.
In April 2015, the new album, titled Long Live was announced to be released in September. On July 17, 2015, the band released the video for their latest single, "Long Live", via YouTube.
On September 18, 2015, the album Long Live was released. It peaked at number 26 on the Billboard 200.
On August 23, 2018, Atreyu released a single titled "Anger Left Behind" and announced that their upcoming album In Our Wake will be released on October 12, 2018. As of September 11, Atreyu has released 3 singles including Anger Left Behind, In Our Wake, and The Time Is Now including a music video for the song In Our Wake. Atreyu did a tour to support In Our Wake throughout the Fall of 2018. Memphis May Fire, Ice Nine Kills and Sleep Signals all joined up as support.
On August 19, 2019, Atreyu announced an anniversary tour to celebrate 20 years since the band's formation. The setlist for the tour was a 20-song setlist and was chosen by fans in an online poll. The tour spanned 27 cities and featured support from Whitechapel, He Is Legend, Tempting Fate, and Santa Cruz.
In late August 2020, it was rumored that vocalist Alex Varkatzas had left the band. After some uncertainty following these reports, the band officially announced that they were parting ways with Varkatzas a month later on September 30.
On March 4, 2021, the band announced that their eighth studio album Baptize would be released on June 4, 2021, through Spinefarm Records. Ahead of the release, they also released two singles: "Warrior" featuring Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and "Underrated".
On August 1, 2025, the band released a re-recorded version of The Curse. The updated version features Saller and McKnight on vocals rather than the bands original vocal lineup of Alex Varkatzas and Saller.
In an interview, guitarist Dan Jacobs stated he is a really big '80s rock fan. He then went on to quote "I love all that stuff and I think that is one generation where music was done right and I try to apply that as much as possible to our music". He also went on to discuss Atreyu's influence from the Gothenburg metal scene. A few bands he mentioned that the band loves are: Arch Enemy, In Flames, Soilwork, and all those type of bands.
In an interview with Metal Underground, bassist Porter McKnight spoke of his influences:
In an interview with Rock Sound, frontman Alex Varkatzas stated
Former members
Timeline
|
|