Release date: 24th April
Some things are just eternal. The cycle of night and day…the changing of the seasons…life and death…and Atreyu being incapable of putting out a bad release. The End Is Not The End is the latest piece of work from the band and once again we have been graced with a truly excellent listen with album number ten. (Ed: Side note…ten?! Man, I remember purchasing their ‘new’ album The Curse in 2004! We are all old now.)
With the first teaser of the album coming late last year in the form of their track Dead, it serves as a pretty good insight into the album because the track has quite a dark vibe and what feels like a bit of a melodeath influence – which sums up the album as a whole pretty well. The End Is Not The End is a little heavier than the band’s previous few releases but with all of that trademark Atreyu melody we know and love.
It follows on pretty nicely from their previous full-length The Beautiful Dark Of Life, taking the themes of life and death and expanding on them. It’s almost a continuation of where they left off, which is certainly not a bad thing, yet at the same time The End Is Not The End still stands on its own with its own unique identity.
There’s plenty to sink your teeth into with a personal favourite of mine being In The Dark, which I’m really hoping makes it into their live set on their next return to the UK. The vocals in particular are very strong on this track, with the harsh vocals at the start really packing a punch and juxtaposing with the more stripped-back chorus which is so beautifully emotive it’s enough to bring a tear to your eye. And with massive group vocal sections and perhaps my favourite saxophone line to feature on an Atreyu song thus far…it just has it all.
I don’t care what the haters say. For me, Atreyu can do no wrong – and with The End Is Not The End, it shows once again that Atreyu show no signs of stopping any time soon. Long live Atreyu – this showcases the band on top form once again.
Support: Merch/preorders
