Review: Atreyu - Congregation of the Damned
As a fan, I've been a bit conflicted with Atreyu lately.
The band's first 3 albums (S
uicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses, The Curse, and especially
A Deathgrip on Yesterday) are just about the pinnacle of everything that I enjoy in music, while the 4th album
Lead Sails, Paper Anchor was a very unusual departure from what I had come to know and love from Atreyu.
Lead Sails was softer, less lyrically focused, and had a more mainstream-friendly sound. I was torn between whether I thought they had sold out or just weren't sure what they were doing anymore; there weren't very many fantastic metaphorical musings about vampire love stories, there was minimal scream singing, and a lot of the songs just felt kind of empty.
After listening to it for several weeks, I eventually realized that most of what I disliked about the album was the lack of pain in the music. The music and lyrics both had a lighter sound overall and that meant that the album just didn't quite "feel" like an Atreyu album. Even so, that statement is pretty unfair to Atreyu, as they are an amazing band and they were still giving the fans their all, just a different and more fun-loving side of it. Kind of like when they covered Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name" on the band's second album,
The Curse.
Once I realized that, I was able to enjoy
Lead Sails, Paper Anchor quite a bit, albeit still not nearly as much as the first three albums.
With that said, it should be obvious that, after the announcement of the band's latest album,
Congregation of the Damned, I still had a good amount of apprehension towards any new material from Atreyu.
Surprisingly, what I found in
Congregation of the Damned was an album that succeeded in establishing a middle-ground between Atreyu's older and influential sound with their newer and more radio-friendly sound. It's not as good as their first 3 albums, but it is a surprisingly good album overall and it has even made me like
Lead Sails, Paper Anchor more.
You might be inclined to think that this latest effort "excuses"
Lead Sails, but I find that that it's more a case of "explaining"
Lead Sails. It's easy to see now the direction that the band is going in, and it isn't nearly as commercial as I had feared.
While it is true that, overall, the lyrical quality and musical originality is less than their first 3 albums,
Congregation of the Damned still succeeds on a lot of levels with various songs. If you don't mind looking past a few cliches, it's easy to see that Atreyu has done a great job of meshing their old masterpieces with their new direction. They haven't quite mastered this new sound, but it's good to see them exploring and refining, and it's definitely a great effort that will ensure that I remain a fan for their next release.
In the end, I have no problem recommending this album.
My favorites from the album include:
So WrongThis is by far my favorite song on the album, musically and lyrically it is the most similar to what I love about Atreyu.
GallowsSome good lyrics in this one.
Wait for YouSomewhat cheesy and reminiscent of an 80's ballad, some might think that this is a bit "off" for Atreyu. Truthfully, I think it's just a side of the band that a lot of people don't realize exists. I find this song to be quite welcome and totally awesome
Stop! Before It's too Late and We've Destroyed It AllProbably the hardest song on the album, but although it's not terribly heavy to begin with, the chorus is infectious and it shows that Atreyu is not afraid to make a song without using Brandon's catchy vocals for the chorus. A good throwback to their old days when Alex's role in vocals was more prominent.
