Atreyu - In Our Wake

If you’re going to make some asshat claim that your band invented metalcore to get publicity for your upcoming album, that album should probably at least sound like more than generic, band-wagoning alternative metal with a dash of melodic metalcore. That post I made last week about genres being important was partly inspired by the idiotic comment Atreyu’s Alex Varkatzas made about being the inventors of metalcore. The ploy of making bold public statements for the sake of headlines surrounding an upcoming release is an old tactic that I and most metalheads are probably used to at this point, even if it’s still groan-inducing a lot of the time. But the asinine claim Varkatzas made were based on warping the understanding of genres, basically intentionally trying to break a tool the metal community uses to discuss music. And of course people were quick to let the band know this, pointing to metallic hardcore’ s progenitors like Converge and Botch, as well as melodic metalcore’s well-acknowledged original pioneers: Killswitch Engage.

As for the music on this album, it has a foot in that Escape the Fate/The Amity Affliction brand of poppy melody mixed with metalcore that generally turns me off (but in which I do find some gems). Its other foot is planted in run-of-the-mill alt. metalcore that only sometimes ascends to upper levels of heaviness in a manner seemingly intended to minimally appease the fans that clamor for it. But In Our Wake finds Atreyu mostly compiling several trendy electronically updated Hot Topic anthems. The band find themselves sounding like Godsmack and Nickelback with their awkward use of the arena indie rock “woah” vocals a few too many times.

Incidentally, I really liked the more cinematic and theatrical approach the closing track took. I was wondering why it sounded so much like Nightmare-era Avenged Sevenfold when I was first listening to it, and then M. Shadows’ vocal contribution popped up and it all made sense. Aside from that track, the aggressive, attitude-filled “Blind Deaf & Dumb” was perhaps the only song I enjoyed a majority of, the rest only having fleeting glimmers of cool ideas.

I will say, with all the bands that constructed the 2000’s metalcore landscape hopping aboard the BMTH bandwagon lately, Atreyu are perhaps the most consistent at staying true to their original sound and using the incorporated electronic elements to enhance their sound rather than melt it down and remold it for radio. They don’t completely abandon their harsh vocals or solos, but the key aspects of the metalcore they say they invented take the distant backseat to modern butt rock clichés and transparent trend following. It’s a really boring and predictable album with not enough in the way of the very momentary highlights to really justify a thorough dig through its heap of throw-away ideas. I’m sure big time fans of the band won’t be disappointed, as the band don’t sell out too hard, but even to those fans, I can’t see this being too many people’s favorite, now, or especially years from now.