As you likely know, Orange County was certainly “the (literal) zone” for metal-adjacent, punk rock, third-wave ska, and racist acts large and small in the late-90s/early-aughts, and Yorba Linda’s metalcore superstars Atreyu, formed in 1998 and, fun fact of the day: were named after the main character in “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” certainly benefited from being at the epicenter such a strong and vibrant music scene. Anyway, eight, yes EIGHT, albums later, the band is a sort of a Kiwanis club of he-man, women hater, elder statesmen entity for aggressive music in every single county excluding Fresno County, but honestly, who wants to rule there? Don’t answer that, read on for our not so hot accurate takes on the band’s catalog.
8. Congregation of the Damned (2009)
Atreyu’s fifth full-length studio album and last release for Hollywood Records, was their first of two LP missteps, their next being their subsequent release “Long Live,” and likely caused the band’s brief hiatus just three years later. If you think we’re so wrong, it must be said that we believe that any Atreyu effort is truly good, but this album sounds unfocused and inconsistent, and the songs sadly are just good overall, but not great. Have no fear, kids, the albums following this release have much less filler, and successfully resurrected the five-piece in a glorious way, particularly the catchy, catchy “In Our Wake.” Still, “Congregation of the Damned” proved that Atreyu had super fulfilled fans, as it debuted at number 18 on the Billboard 200, a fantastic feat for ANY act, especially a heavy one like Atreyu.
Play it again: “Ravenous”
Skip it: Sadly, a bunch of it
7. Long Live (2015)
When your favorite doo-wop, brass ball, reckless, and surprisingly goofy act named Atreyu left Hollywood Records and took a short break to decompress, re-evaluate their overall mission statement, get some well-needed rest, and watch the war drama “Bridesmaids” with their respective significant others, no one expected ‘em to come back so soon, or at all, and certainly few thought that they’d release their heaviest effort “Long Live” on another label, their current home at Universal’s imprint Spinefarm Records, current home to the huge AF Sleep Token and the even bigger Paris Hilton. Well, the band likes to keep you guessing, and as we mentioned earlier, this one is more mid-Atreyu than most, but it beat “Congregation of the Damned” by a hair here so others may live, so happily, we hear the band’s heartbeats sans flatlines.
Play it again: “I Would Kill / Lie / Die (For You)”
Skip it: Sadly, slightly less than a bunch of it
6. Baptize (2021)
Atreyu’s eighth and most recent full-length studio album, is underrated by definition, and since it has the biggest lineup change of the band’s twenty-plus-year career, it’s very tough to talk about, but, no matter what, it’s our job to be objective. “Baptize” is the first Atreyu LP to not feature prolific co-frontman, screamer, fitness icon, and huggable panda Alex Varkatzas, so inevitably there are growing pains present here. However, it’s the band’s most underrated album and current Atreyu band members Travis Miguel, Dan Jacobs, Brandon Saller, Marc “Porter” McKnight, and new drummer Kyle Rosa all shine like glimmering weed, specifically Sativa. Once you’re done with this LP, spin the band’s newer tunes, in particular, the perfect tune, “Drowning”.
Play it again: The one-two punch of “Strange Powers Of Prophecy” into the title track
Skip it: “Stay”
5. Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses (2002)
2002 was an incredible year for fans of melody and yelling combined, with classic post-hardcore/mall screamo LPs like The Used’s self-titled debut and Missy Elliott’s “Under Construction” defining the genre. The world showcased that it was ready for Atreyu to storm the aggressive Warped Tour gates with lip gloss, black, tulips, and duck lips with their debut studio album. Still a fan favorite, it is a very solid intro to the band that truly got better as they matriculated, but it still pales in comparison to many of their later efforts, and you know we’re right unless you don’t. Released via unproblematic label Victory Records, who knowingly owned the genre’s space in the early-aughts, “Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses” gave fans more of the latter than the former, and several of its songs still populate Atreyu shows today.
Play it again: “Ain’t Love Grand”
Skip it: “Dilated”
4. In Our Wake (2018)
Atreyu’s lucky #7 of a record, is sadly Alex Varkatzas’ last, but happily, it is their second catchiest effort, next to their major label debut, with three back-to-back singles in tracks 1 to 3 to 2 starting the title track “In Our Wake,” “The Time Is Now,” and “House of Gold” absolutely showcasing that yelling and screaming bands can create infectious vocal and instrumental melodies. Without question, this studio album is the band’s best post-2007, and even scene superheroes like Underoath’s Aaron Gillespie, Avenged Sevenfold’s M. Shadows, and Genesis’ Peter Gabriel agree, put such into the open, and showcase valor/grace such with their features. Producer John Feldmann puts his specific sheen on this record, and people who didn’t normally vibe to Atreyu definitely took notice, as “The Time Is Now” to this day is the band’s publicly highest-streamed song on Spotify!
Play it again: “The Time Is Now”
Skip it: “No Control”
3. The Curse (2004)
Atreyu’s lack of a sophomore slump, LP “The Curse,” successfully took the band from an opening act slot act to the headliner position, but their direct support jaunt supporting The (aforementioned) Used on their highest-selling album tour in 2004 for “In Love and Death” with Head Automatica on second, and The Bronx starting things off didn’t exactly hurt their cause as well. Fun fact: The limited edition version of “The Curse” contained a cover of Bon Jovi’s “Don’t Stop Believing,” and said track from “Nevermind” infiltrated more than the “Punk Goes Pop” crowd, that’s for sure! Also, this record debuted at NUMBER ONE on the US Independent Albums chart, and eventually went GOLD but not in a house of gold, showcasing that a major label was without question in the band’s periphery. Basically, record producer GGGarth killed it here and for underrated Puerto Rican act Puya.
Play it again: “Demonology And Heartache”
Skip it: “Corseting”
2. A Death-Grip on Yesterday (2006)
At just nine tracks, which admittedly is an extremely unconventional, unexpected, unusual, and another adjective starting with the letter “u” number of songs for a full-length studio album, which we theorize is such because the band wanted to do the bare minimum to fulfill the last album in their contract with Victory Records, and at just under thirty-three minutes by eleven seconds, Atreyu’s third album, “A Death-Grip on Yesterday” is a succinct, heavy, nutrient-dense, and IBS inducing masterpiece. If you disagree with our opinion here, not only are you a dumbass, but we implore you to go outside, attend an Atreyu show, attempt to frown with your hands crossed, and NOT bob your head to first single “Ex’s And Oh’s;” spoiler alert, it is impossible to do anything but rock and roll, hit the bar, lose control, and play tic tac toe to this number.
Play it again: “Ex’s And Oh’s”
Skip it: “We Stand Up”
1. Lead Sails Paper Anchor (2007)
Atreyu’s fourth full-length studio album and first for major label Hollywood Records, the conglomerate that brought me, you, and everyone we know Donald Duck, Fastball, Miley Cyrus, and Prussian Blue, is a true “no skip” release appealing to fans of Metallica, Rocket From The Crypt, Descendents, and Daffy Duck’s spoken word protest album. Like the #4 slot almost-medal winning “In Our Wake, Goldfinger’s frontman John Feldmann perfectly captured the band in peak form, and all became undeniably musically dense and non-violent bulls in the process. Also, to reference another Atreyu release here, like “The Curse,” this one also went Gold because of its four strong singles “Becoming The Bull,” “Doomsday,” “Falling Down,” and “Slow Burn,” and even crowd favorite 80s metal-esque tune “Blow” had a music video. In conclusion, contrary to popular stupidhead belief, “lead” here is pronounced like “dead,” and not like “feed,” idiots.
Play it again: Not doing blow, but listening to “Blow”
Skip it: Doing blow and not listening to your friends letting you know that you have a problem
This lovable oaf is only ever there to help you out. Hodor may not be able to communicate all that well, but at least you don’t have to worry about loading in your own gear with him around.
Effective, understanding and compassionate – Missandei is everything a good sound guy ought to be, and yet none are.
Sam is too sensitive to be an asshole to anyone. You could probably push your whole bass cab off the stage and have it land on his wife and he’ll apologize to you. Asking “Could I get some more bass in the monitor?” might actually kill him.
Maester Luwin is only there to serve whoever the fuck is in power at that exact moment. And for the next 20 minutes, as you muddle through your half-rehearsed ska rendition of Men Without Hats covers, that’s you. Who can dance if they want to? Fucking you can!
Podrick is a nice boy – that’s good. He’s also an unstoppable sexual dynamo, which sets him as the diametric opposite of every other sound guy who’s ever lived. Yeah, he’s not gonna be giving you any shit about feedback as he confidently and lovingly fucks your bass player’s sister.
Lord Stark has a pretty strict code of honor which dictates he always does the right thing for those who are loyal to him. All you gotta do is bum him a Parliament before sound check and he’ll go to bat for you even if the venue manager threatens to cut off his head.
She’s a sweet kid. You’ll probably have to hear some guff about how her dad is trying to get promoted to night manager, but just don’t say anything about that thing on her face and you’ll be fine with her running the show.
Qyburn is a bit of a renegade, but that means he’s willing to bend the rules a bit to get what you want done. So your amps exceed the safe voltage restrictions for the club’s electrical system? Qyburn is already on his way down to the fuse box with a pair of wire clippers and a sly smirk on his face.
The Spider has always said that he lives to serve the realm. One could assume that most of the time that means the venue you’re getting fifty bucks to open in – but since he’s also not afraid to stab a few backs every now and then, it stands to reason that if you stay on his good side then maybe you wind up the headliner sooner than you’d expect.
She’s surprisingly sweet despite meeting the core sound guy criteria of barely being able to read and having a baby born of incest.
The Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch can definitely be a hardass, but rest assured he always has your best interests at heart. Keep that in mind when you accidentally lock yourselves out of the green room and need someone to strongarm the custodian to get the keys for you.
This dude’s a smuggler. You know what that means? It means he knows where to get coke. You’re welcome.
This plain-flavored-tapioca of a character doesn’t have enough personality to even know how to be a dick… on.
He can be a bit cryptic, like when you ask him where he wants the guitars loaded in and he replies “The ether beneath the field where men pretend they control the skies.” But this dude has been around since this venue was still an abandoned Waffle House – he’s gonna show you everything you need to know about why the PA system is making that noise again.
Fuck! Arya already killed the booker ‘cause he once called her dad “a bit of a knave.” Welp, onto the next name on the list… erm… we mean “tour date.”
If you treat him like dogshit long enough then apparently he falls in love with you. At least he’s devoted to the artists.
Jon Snow has really been through the ringer, and usually when that happens to a sound guy they just get really into salvia and refuse to make eye contact. But Jon somehow keeps going – which may actually be a bit annoying when he comes back from the dead just to show you the proper way the mixing board is supposed to be set up.
Fuck – we got a lot of Northerners on this list so far. Let’s get the hell out of that do-gooding tundra on the next one if we can.
There we go! King Tommen is a perfectly affable little shit. He’s easily distracted by the prospect of getting laid, so he might miss sound check because they hired a new bartender for him to harass. But as long as he’s back by showtime he’s not gonna try to cut anyone’s mic.
Once she starts to serve you, Brienne is loyal until the end – like, annoyingly so. She’ll adjust the monitor levels once for you and next thing she’ll be declaring how she’s gonna produce every record any member of your band ever does for free. It’s an overcorrection that isn’t so much being an asshole as just being “a lot.”
When we first meet him, he’s an asshole. Then he’s just kind of a goon. Then he’s actually a pretty useful plot device. Is he the most developed character in all of “Game of Thrones”? No, that can’t be right. But still he’ll be pretty unpredictable as to which version you get as your sound guy.
I, uh, don’t really know what to do with this one. It’s simultaneously not quite a remix album and not quite its own thing. It consists of alternate arrangements of each track from “Heartworms” and feels like it should have been released as a bonus disc for the album’s 25th-anniversary edition. Conceptually, it’s a pretty neat idea, and I like some of the tracks well enough. If I’m sitting down to listen to The Shins, though, I’m almost always going to ignore it in favor of their actual, y’know, albums.
Part of me wants to say that this album was where James Mercer ran out of creative gas. I mean, he shuttered the entire project without releasing another record after this one, so it kind of tracks, right? It’s very easy to think that the reason I never want to listen to “Heartworms” is because it’s just not a worthwhile listen. It couldn’t possibly be that I was closing in on thirty when it was released, right? I’m sure my appetite for indie pop will remain as insatiable as it was when I was a hormonal teenager, no matter how old I get. To think anything else would be admitting that my own colors are fading, and that’s impossible.
I really do like “Port of Morrow,” in the way that you like a non-favored cat. See, unlike children, you’re allowed to like your pets to varying degrees — and even dislike them, if they suck. I don’t think “Port of Morrow” sucks, and I don’t dislike it, but my phone isn’t filled with pictures of it. When I get home from work, I don’t pet “Port of Morrow” before I greet my wife. I don’t even have a single nickname for it, let alone dozens like “Po-Po” or “Porty-Morty, My Handsome Little Soldier.” Still, I’ve definitely spent some happy hours curled up on the couch with it, and that’s not too shabby.
Please don’t get mad at me. I love this album! Some of the songs on it altered my brain chemistry on a fundamental level! Honestly, these top three are basically a 1A/1B/1C situation, but the ancient rules of ranking require me to put them into some kind of hierarchy. See, the system is to blame, not me. In any case, I’ll take Mercer’s advice. I will not betray the way I’ve always known it is: I probably listened to the “Garden State” soundtrack more times than “Oh, Inverted World,” and I don’t feel that bad about it.
I’ll admit, a lot of my affection for “Wincing the Night Away” might have to do with the fact that I was a teenager going through my vinyl phase when it was released. Despite any hipster prejudice I might have had in favor of the rapidly-warping record sitting in direct sunlight on my bookshelf, it’s a great album. It still feels like it’s in the same vein as its two predecessors but with significantly better production. The band’s next two albums would see the dismissal of long-time members, and The Shins have never really felt the same since. So, if anyone is looking to buy a lovingly-used copy of this wonderful record, drop me a line.
It is just about impossible for me to listen to “Kissing the Lipless” and not follow through with a full-album listen of “Chutes Too Narrow.” From the moment those goofy little claps play in the intro, I am totally hooked. This is an earnest opinion, but I’ll admit that it’s a take that gave me a ton of indie cred in high school. “Oh, you like The Shins? Me, too! Except all of my favorite songs are from the album you’ve never even heard of, poser. Don’t worry; I’ll help you. You can take one of my earbuds and we’ll listen to it together. Please don’t look at my face during the bridge of “Young Pilgrims.” I will be crying.”