Suicide Notes & Butterfly Kisses

Atreyu

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 4, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Victory Records
• ASIN: B000066JH2
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (133 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #63,165 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

"An emotionally charged fusion of screaming metallic hardcore and catchy breakdowns." - Revolver

Southern California is celebrated for its sunshine and renowned for continually producing some of the worlds best punk rock bands. Atreyu will dispel any predetermined notions you may have previously had of a band from this area.

Depression, pain, desire and retribution procreate in a dark, lonely corner of your psyche. Its that sordid piece of yourself that you try and hide, deny and bury. Orange County Californias Atreyu is embroiled in the struggle to break free from this disenfranchising abyss. Atreyu has taken a new direction in the world of melodic hard rock. They make extreme a little more accessible, emo a little more haunting and severe backed up with a powerful hardcore foundation. The album was recorded at the legendary Trax East (Hatebreed, Snapcase, Catch 22) and produced by Erik Rachel.

"Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses" is a wrenching window into the mind and heart of bandleader and lead vocalist Alex Varkatzas. Varkatzas rich allegorical songwriting focuses on dealing with the human growth struggle and the pain and desire of relationships. Atreyus incendiary musical alloy can best be described as a complex, passionate, emotional maelstrom of torment, revenge, vindication and release. Song titles like Tulips Are Better, Lip Gloss and Black and A Vampires Lament evoke a quandary of elicit images. The musicianship is technical yet fluid with a precise, thunderous rhythm section.

Accentuating Atreyus unconventional aura is the two-headed vocal delivery of Alex and drummer Brandon Saller. Alex is the ferocious, menacing, caustic and seething skull while Brandon is the tranquilizing, harmonious, Elysian cranium. This vocal duality migrates the gamut of melodramatic expression creating an ethereal yet turbulent soundscape.

Over the past three years Atreyu has garnered a dedicated, ardent, underground following on the West Coast. In December, 2001, Atreyu released their debut EP on Tribunal Records entitled, "Fractures in the Faade of Your Porcelain Beauty", recorded with producer Paul Miner, bassist of Death By Stereo. "Fractures" has been extremely well received and immediately garnered rave reviews.

Product Description

Sorrow, regret and revenge procreate in a dark lonely corner of your heart. It's that little piece of yourself that you try and hide from seeing the light of day. Southern California's Atreyu thrives on that darkness.

Taking a new direction in the world of metal they fluidly balance sinister metal riffs with technical, finger tapping cadences. Their blend of soothing vocal harmonies lull you into a state of momentary bliss, until your dreams are abruptly shattered by a menacing growl so fierce it will make you want to impale your delicate face with any object within arm's reach. Atreyu represents the perfect hybrid of hardcore, emo and metal.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "metalcore for kids who listen to in flames", December 14, 2002

By	RxxktheVote (maryland) - See all my reviews

That is how Atreyu describes their music and I must agree. They straddle the line between Killswitch Engage and Iron Maiden and do it VERY WELL. Every song is amazing, moving, heavy, and memorable. The clean/growled vocal trade off is reminescent of the afforemention KSE and Shadows Fall, so if you are a fan of those bands do yourself a favor and get this.

For a debut album, the songwriting skills are very impressive.. even so much that some amount of mainstream success could lie ahead for them. I really don't know how to describe it other than amazing.... probably the premiere metalcore album of this year. Fav songs = Ain't Love Grand, Lip Gloss and Black, Someone's Standing on My Chest

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars nice!, September 10, 2004

By	M. Harrison "beautiful_freak_87" (louisiana) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you don't like atreyu's first album, then you don't know what good music is! The Curse is a good album, but i don't see why so many ppl like that one better than Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses. They both rock.
Any way, the reason i bought this cd, was because the name caught my eye. however the cd is NOT all about suicide. the songs are mostly about relationships. If you enjoy screamo music with a slight emotional feel, this album is definitely for you. if you don't like any kind of screaming, then don't buy this album. you might wanna try there new one. there is a little bit of singing on most every song, but not a breakdown every ten seconds. the guitars are nice, and the pianos on lip gloss and black give the album a nice goth vibe. im personally a fan of some goth music. the beautiful and heartfelt lyrics were really appealing to me.
the best track on this album would have to be "At least i know im a sinner" After you read the lyrics you might question their faith in God. However this song is not anti-christian. i bought a new version of this cd, which gave a desciption of every song, so a highly recommend you get it, so you don't confuse the lyrics.
Over all, this album is wonderful hardcore, with a raw touch of emotionaly driven guitar and lyrics. if you like from autumn to ashes and avenged sevenfold you should buy this.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars VERY impressive full-length debut, April 15, 2003

By	"atreyu9x" (Temecula, CA) - See all my reviews

The first song on this record 'A Song For The Optimists' slowly fades in, into a thick black metal-esc guitar solo and the sound of Alex's very unique throaty vocal pattern, pummelling the listener. The more you listen to this record, you can't help but notice their musical style jumping out at you, as if their Guitarists went and took songwriting lessons from fellow label mates Darkest Hour, so much so that the main guitar riff at the beginning of the first track 'A Song For The Optimists', sounds exactly like Darkest Hour's 'For The Soul Of The Savior'. Now by saying that I am not ripping Atreyu, because I actually really like this band. One of the main reasons I do is that very same first track, which goes through at least 5 tempo changes, showing incredible range on the bands part, as well as the vocalists.

It's rather enjoyable to hear a band with this much range, and it's just the first song. This range continues throughout the record, adding in soft melodic rock (I refuse to say emo) interludes (see track 2 'Dilated') and fast paced hardcore two-steppin' parts to their already fierce black metal-ish approach. There is alot of melodic soft singing throughout this record, my favorite section has got to be the beginning of the third song 'Aint Love Grand?', vocals that are so soft and harmonious and pleasing to the ear. One of 2002s highlights, undoubtedly.