Atreyu - Congregation Of The Damned
75%
To call your band after the character of The Never Ending Story is probably not the most metal thing to do. Certainly when you play a music style that is dominated by angry dudes who just want to smash in ugly faces. On the other hand it would do good with the girls and I have to say it turned out pretty well for them. Especially since they would move away from the typical metalcore sound over the years and create a more open and softer rock sound.
To be honest I did like some of the early work of Atreyu but along the way I lost track of the band since they got softer in my humble opinion. So I can say it was quite a surprise to start with ‘Stop! Before It’s Too Late And We’ve To Destroyed It All’. The song has a great midtempo vibe with some great brutal vocals along the way. This continues with the song ‘Bleeding Is A Luxury’ and they throw in some fist pupping choruses as well.
Just at the point that I’m starting to think that Atreyu has created an album with great good old songs, ‘Coffin Nails’ and ‘Black Days Begin’ pass by. Both songs that are quite mediocre rock songs that lack any sort of inspiration or passion. Several songs later it’s pretty obvious there are more songs where Atreyu takes it slow and puts in more way more melody than what’s good for the album. Luckily at the end of the album there are several more songs that are worth mentioning. ‘So Wrong’ has some great build ups and outbursts combined with some nice duelling guitars. 'Ravenous' gives the album a kick in the ass and makes it possible to finish the album in style with a punky sounding ‘Lonely’. Oh and the last song ‘Wait For You’ is specially for the ladies.
Overall I'm still impressed, I never expected that they would return to their old sound a bit after making Lead Paper Sail Anchor. I guess this album is a great mix for all the emo couples around the world both, he and she will find songs on the album that they will like and to be honest there are not many bands that can make that happen.
