Customer Reviews

The Curse

5 star:		(90)
4 star:		(41)
3 star:		(32)
2 star:		(26)
1 star:		(38)

 

 

All these online music "experts" crack me up. If an album falls outside of somebodies beloved "emo", "screamo", "metal-core" or whatever genre they've attached themselves to, they bash the artist. Equally amusing are the ones who probably can't play an instrument but critique the musicians.

I've been a drummer for 25 years and listen to everything from James Taylor to Jay-Z to Cannibal Corpse. For what it's worth, I'm on my first spin of this disk and I'm digging it.

Some people may ask "Should I Buy This",.... "What's so special about this band",...."What Kind of music they play!!!"... "Is this worth spending hard earned cash on!!!" I will try my best to answer these questions, but it all depends on your style of music.

Atreyu is part of a new genere called "Metalcore".... which is when you take elements ofdeath metal, punk, and stylish screamo/emo and mix it all together to make a pretty enjoyable sound. Metalcore is similar to the generes Nu-Metal a working in phads and popularity; but both in different ways.

Nu-Metal is mainstream metal like: KoRn, Slipknot, Drowning Pool, Hatebreed, Defnotes, Helmet, and Disturbed, which is more of a mixture of altenative and/or rap in ways mainly aimed at MTV and mainstream, which isn't popular with Metalheads, but it can sometimes be enjoyable. No it isn't as heavy as regular metal, mostly based around popularity and money. Most of these bands at one point become sell outs,... and from where I come from we hate sell outs,... who take orders from MTV!!!

Metalcore is mainstream with different orgins, but aimed at the Ozzfest crowd and metalheads. Some good, metalcore bands are: Atreyu, Underoath, Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying, Unearth, Silverstien, Scars of Tommorow, and so on so forth. These bands are heavy but considered to poppy by some hardcore Metalheads, and while also piising off the emo crowd at the same time. I myself like Metalcore's style pushing the envelope with their new style of music. No, believe me this isn't death metal,....!!!

Most negative reviews come from death metal fans( like me), .... they actually try to compare this to death metal. You can't compare two different kinds of music; it's an endless cycle of people trying to compare music; like for example:

Atreyu vs. Lamb of God:

A lot of metal fans use this match up to make some kind of point on how "Lamb of God" is heavier than "Atreyu". Yes, in fact I'm a hardcore "Lamb of God" fan,... and of course they are batter, but impossible to compare; with different origins and such. Different styles are impossible to compare.

This comparison even isn't a fair fight. Lamb of God is about 10 times as heavier as Atreyu; with 80's trash metal(like Pantera and Metallica) roots, while adding a cutting edge death metal feel of Slayer; using the same basic set ups and riffs from the band. Yes, Lamb of God knows how to use their equipment better; with machine gun drumming, unbelievable guitar playing, and very agressive vocals, using more of a raw edge. Of, course they have better sound quality, since they have a major record deal with Sony records.

Atreyu, kind of gets it's origin from many different places one example could be the Swedish melodic Death Metal band "At The Gates", and of corse taking a punk feel from the "The Sex Pistols", and maybe a bit of an emo feel with a touch of "My Chemical Romance"(hate them!!!), but you can defintly see they mostly focus on the melodic Death Metal elements of their music. They use two vocalists Bradon Saller who drums and has the heavier voice; and then you have Alex Volaxyis who adds more to the melody or rythm; with the softer voice. They aren't as heavy as "Lamb of God", but have a complex feel, though Atreyu isn't the best metalcore band around; could maybe be a little heavier in my opinion. They don't have the best sound production in the world, being part of Victory Records a newer label housing many new metalcore bands like: Silverstien, Scars of Tommorow, Comeback Kid, and of course Atreyu!!!

My whole point of this segment called Lamb of God vs. Atreyu is that you can't compare two different types of music people. There will always be something heavier or lighter. Yeah you have your rap/hip hop fans bashing country and vice versa. While you have Atreyu fans saying that people who like Lamb of God are crazy and are a bunch of evil, and sick perveted goths who praise Metallica as a god,..... which isn't true!!! Then you have your Lamb of God fans saying that Atreyu fans are a bunch of whimpy emo loving, tasteless punks, who can't take real music like Lamb of God, Shadows Fall, or In Flames, which may not be true for... some.. Atreyu fans!!!

Will everybody just...... Shut Up and ask yourself how the hell are you helping people buy freaken' music!!! It all depends on your taste in music, gosh I'm tired of every body judging music and calling me a 13 year old skater punk, rebeling against the world. So people will everybody just stop judging people or different kinds of music please,... I'm sick of this!!!

Atreyu has plenty to offer, for open minded people!!! "The Curse" overall is a very solid album with lots of sweet material. I liked the album,.... no believ me it's no Metallica but they still give your ears a wonderful experience. Yes, this music is for an heavier audience. Metalcore, even with all the mixtures of music is metal at heart so if you don't like metal, .... why are you even reading this review. Anyways, I liked how the album flowed on in complete unsion, with a bunch of great songs like: "Bleeding Mascra", "My Sanity on the Funeral Pyre", "Corseting", "The Crimson", "Demonology of Heartache", and "Right Side of the Bed".... there were a few others that were pretty good as well, in fact about 10 songs out of 13 are 8 of them (listed above stand out)!!! Yes, I've heard better a little lighter for my taste but, I have no regrets buying the album.

You also get a bonus disc from Victory Records that gives you a sample song from some of the new metalcore bands under there banner, so in a way it's a good buy and kind of gives you an idea on what to buy. Atreyu can be considered a shopping guide. Hardcore Emo fans and Hardcore Death Metal fans have their reasons for disliking metal core.... I though have an open mind and say heck give this a try and you can taste the Metalcore genere and see if you like it.

Overall, I will give this album a 4/5... great album for metalcore fans. You should check out the growing genere!!!

-Rogue Fox "Rogue"
Music Critic

I think its everyday that some new genre is made up weather it be..."grind-core, chaos-core, hard-core, metal-core, melodic-core...

It is one of the stupidest things i have ever seen, people continually try to rip every aspect of this music apart to give it a name. Who cares what it is? You cant just label a band...a band always has more parts rather than just one skill that makes it categorized. I think the only genre you need to know is metal...then give it a try and listen to it and decide if you like it or not. You dont need this crap saying ya its a nu-metal formula with a tad of hardcore thrown in with some symphonycore. Just listen to it and decide...there is no point in arguing one what type of genre a music is, that goes around the whole point on if something is good.

To the music, I dont think this is hard but i enjoy it. Yes, they have gone more mainstream but i dont think it has become anything bad rather different. Cant really say if they sold out and neither can anyone else because they dont know what the band was thinking when they wrote this. I honestly wouldnt have thought it was the same band if i didint know the artist. SN and BK was more intense than this but they somewhat keep that edge and in todays radio airwaves i dont see how anything like this would ever become THAT mainstream, there is still plenty of screaming but other than the last one that had very little clean vocals, this one is full of it. What some people have become so mad about is they feel they have lost their formula what made them so great on the past album. Weather you like the lyrics or not...weather they are to depressing or too girly, they are still well written and emotional. What i mean by that is you can tell the singer wrote it because of what he feels. They can be over-done and too sappy or what not but that doesnt take away from how good they are. Atreyu stays creative and i believe are just taking more critizing becuase they have become more fan based. Depending on what some people thing, i dont think this is heavy. In past reviews i have said screaming does not mean heavy. The guitars are simply not something that makes it brutal to my ears. The riffs are simply played to high for me to think its hard. I must say i enjoy his screaming rather than alot of bands. It doesnt get old to me and he makes it listenable rather than just a constant monotone noise. Atreyu had simply high expectaions for themselves trying to force too many talents into one which sometimes causes other areas to be lacking.

Pros:
-If your looking to cry how your life sucks, this album is for you to get suicidal over and let you continue to wallow in self pity.
-Very melodic, rides well together and the rythem works out great.
-Good talent all around, the vocal range spreads at all levels.
-Guitar is good, riffs are catchy.
-They have the foundation to appeal to people of all kinds of taste

Cons
-Whiny lyrics to some...if you dont want to hear more pity singing then either ignore the lyrics or dont get this.
-Not exactly "brutal" music, just doesnt bring the heaviness to your ears, mostly because the way it was written.
-A band that was original has sort of fallen in a list with bands who have done this before, therefore making this release somewhat not as stand out for its beauty rather than its catchiness.
-For some this could be way too much of a change from the first album to the 2nd, they have lessened the screaming from which the first had about 98% and this is pretty much 30% screaming...and the screaming is actually comprehensible, which i find a plus.

The talent, melody, rythem, creativeness is there but i dont think we will ever see anything like SN and BK. Dont be surprised to see the hot topic bred babies running around listening to this stuff anytime soon. All good music has to end, has to be over-played, and most of all over-publicized. I believe that Atreyus music is changing in moderation but it still remains good to many ears.

Ive read through quite a few of the reviews about this album and I have to say that the negative attitude towards Atreyu is undeserved - they are simply a band who has dared to experiment and venture into the unknown, I have heard them described as a "retro metal goth punk" band and to be honest I praise them for taking their music into the 21st century. So what if they aren't "metal", I listen to a hell of a lot of metal from the old glory days of Judas Priest, Sabbath and Metallica right through to the modern day metal bands of Trivium, Mendeed etc and some of the musicianship demonstarted by Atreyu equals nearly all of these bands as far as im concerned, they just express themselves in a different way. So what if they aren't "EMO", "Punk" or "Goth" - that is the whole point of Atreyus music to blend all these genres together to create a new sound which, as it appears, a lot of you don't seem willing to accept. Varkatzas's lyrics may be harsh and very "In your face" but without them Atreyu wouldn't be the same, mixed with Atreyus sound his lyrics are brilliant but elsewhere they would probably fall short of the line. Just buy the CD, listen to it and think about it, think about the meaning and the music, don't just write them off because they are "different". There are plenty of rubbish and quite frankly appauling Emo bands out there that deserve your negative opinions, but Atreyu certainly deserve more praise for what they do. I agree that they could certainly benefit from getting away from some of the over powering "poor me" moments that a lot of their songs derive, but overall this album is brilliant, Atreyu are brilliant and your reviews (most of them) are pathetic.

What Atreyu's first album lacked, "The Curse" has in ample quantity. This is a striking, pretty album, with a vampiric story behind the words and the screams. In all honesty, Atreyu is a band that defies categorization. Their words burn the soul of the listener. Their music scorches you to your very essence. Listened to from the beginning, this album is tragically poetic and something that changes you for the better.

Musically, the screaming is good, the intertwining of vocals even better. The guitars harmonize well and the rhythm section gives a punkish and fitting, if not disturbingly skillful, backup to the band.

This is an album all must listen to.

This band is like Killswitch Engage for dummies. When KSE do their cheesy pop choruses they always base them around strong melodies, but Atreyu seem to think it's enough to just do some bland strumming and place the focus on overproduced croony singing. There's a fine line between powermetal singing and boy band singing, but I think KSE is on the right side of that line, and Atreyu is on the wrong side. As far as actual metal goes, Atreyu pile on the screamy vocals but rarely have any real heavy riffs to back it up. The production is partly to blame. They probably could have produced some of these riffs so they actually had some impact, but that would have meant alienating their potential Linkin Park fan base. Their goth image is probably the major selling point for the kids who actually like this. Ultimately it's just a misguided combination of the most generic elements of commercial emo and nu-metal, with lead guitar parts that hint at some relevence to real metal, but none of the heavyness that defines the genre.

I've always felt that the best way to listen to heavy music is while driving long dark stretches of empty post roads far past midnight (alone), and employing that tradition proved once again to be the right thing to do.

The first thing that struck ma about the music was that the musicians could truly play their instruments; the bassist's playing in particular, is full of tasty licks, and frankly, I'm reminded most of Somewhere in Time/Powerslave-era Iron Maiden or early-Nineties Suicidal Tendencies.

While Alex Varkatzas, primary vocalist, probably screams too much and the cadence of his "singing" is rather stilted, he still delivers the good, expressing the agony, escstasy, and rage of the music. The backing vocals and occaional sung choruses/breakdowns complement the music as well and make an excellent counterpoint to the howls.

There are three reasons why, despite thoroughly enjoying this disc, I can't give it a five-star rating: 1) it's exceptionally brief, clocking in at just under 43:30. 2) it's a little bit over-produced--the rawness that seems inherent to their music and to the genre is lost, leaving everything somwhat . . . slick. 3) the lyrics are absolutely horrible, however much conviction is mustered to sing them.

. . . and I can live with the pseudo-goth image--after all, I've been hooked on Queensryche since their "Queen of the Reich" days, and besides, image has nothing to do with talent. The CD booklet is festooned with images of lilies and an intriguing Kate Moss-lookalike with fangs, an impressive webwork of prominent veins on her upper body, and freaky contact lenses, and this will offend the sensibilities of some because they find it creepy, and others because they find it tired and lame, but the music speaks for itself, and should be one's motivation for purchasing the disc.

Having not really followed the mainstream I had 'heard' of Atreyu and I know a couple of people that like them, so when I found a mate had left 'The Curse' in my car one evening, on a long drive back home I decided to listen to it.

Well apart from the odd riff or two, this CD didn't captivate me in any way. After listening to it, then looking at the titles for the tracks on the CD I felt this band were not very lyrically or musically mature.

They also seemed to lack talent, I read in someones review that 'they do have talent, take the solo in the Bleeding Mascara track'. I've picked up a couple of guitars in my time, and frankly that isn't a solo. It's a bunch of notes played one after another, someones who's been playing a couple of years could pull that, or better, quite easily.

I wouldn't buy this CD, simply because there's nothing on it that other bands don't do better. They sound a little like Killswitch Engage (the newer album), but even so Killswitch play better and sound better.

If you want to hear good musicianship listen to bands such as Pantera, Machinehead (latest album!), Faith No More, Black Sabbath, Metallica, Slayer, Mr Bungle (sick!) the list is endless!

Good... but really....

I think Atreyu is just trying to be like Haste the Day, though the vocals don't compare to Jimmy Ryan's.

So many people at my school walk around wearing atreyu apparel, though I've only seen two other people (besides myself) wearing Haste the Day or even Zao (who these guys are copying off of...I mean cmon, the came first and in my opinion are a lot better at writing this kinda music).

As for this album, I've listened to lots of it, but not the entire thing. I personally dislike it because it doesn't come close to other bands of the genre that I listen to. But go with the phad and pick up a copy if you must. Otherwise I'd suggest Haste the Day.

There's a lot of people that say Atreyu is just a wanna be Hardcore band, because they actually have talent and are able to mix catchy vocals with their intense screaming, and their songs actually have great harmonies, as opposed to just sounding like noise. Those people need to take themselves a little less seriously and get over the fact that hardcore bands need to lack vocals, harmony, and catchiness. In a sea of bands that all sound alike Atreyu definately stand out. They are able to mix their hardcore sound, with 80's style shredding guitar solos, and lyrics that show a hint of "emo" but only a hint. Their sound and look even suggests goth, with vampires, death, and love gone bad as primary themes to this Album. The songs are all powerful and intense, and the album definately lacks filler except for the interlude in the middle. So don't hate them for being good, this band is exceptionally talented, and is absolutely amazing in concert. And don't let your premonitions of what Hardcore is supposed to be sway you from the fact that this is a great album. Check out: "Bleeding Mascara", "The Rememberance Ballad", and if you get the limited edition "You Give Love A Bad Name" (Bon Jovi cover, yeah Bon Jovi sucks, but this cover makes it sound like he had the right idea).