Atreyu Softens Hard-Rock Sound on New Disc

By Nathalie Baret FOR THE JOURNAL

When Atreyu stepped out of its Los Angeles recording studio after finishing the final tracks for “Lead Sails Paper Anchor,” its fourth studio album, the metallic rock band’s singer and lead guitarist decided they were in need of a vacation to celebrate.

The two took off to Koh Samui, an exotic island off the coast of Thailand, to indulge in three weeks of leisure, lobster dinners and lessons in their newest hobby, Muay Thai kickboxing.

“We’d done Muay Thai training for five days straight, and everything was great,” guitarist Dan Jacobs told Revolver Magazine. “On Sundays, there’s no training, so our trainers were like, ‘Hey, if you guys want, we’ll take you around the island.’ We got in the back of this truck, and they took us into the jungle, where we went riding elephants and saw all these temples and mummified monks.”

According to Jacobs, it all seemed picture perfect until that evening. “As soon as we got back to the hotel, I started feeling weird — kind of hot and tired, my stomach’s hurting, I’m shivering, I’ve got a fever and just dripping sweat everywhere,” he said.

A fast trip to the hospital concluded Jacobs didn’t have a simple case of food poisoning, as he originally thought. He was immediately placed on an IV, with a fever that climbed from 104 and peaked at 106 degrees; the blood tests revealed the guitarist had a case of typhoid fever — a fatal illness if not treated in time.

Undergoing treatment and rest, Jacobs recovered from his health blow and he and vocalist Alex Varkatzas returned to the States to gear up for the Family Values Tour, a lineup that included Atreyu third on the bill and playing alongside Korn and Evanescence, and for the launch of its much-anticipated “Lead Sails Paper Anchor.”

The album, which came out Aug. 28, quickly muscled its way onto the No. 8 position on Billboard’s Top 200 chart in September and hit No. 1 on the Rock and Hard Rock Album charts that same month, making it the highest-ranking album of the Orange County, Calif., band’s metalcore career.

Drawing praise from Kerrang!, Blender and Metal Hammer magazines for the album’s new direction toward melodicism, the quintet noticeably wrenches itself from its prior stiff and gruffer sound and ditches a lot of the screaming vocals on the 12 new tunes. In its place, Atreyu layers up on epic, rousing harmonies, adds in odd noises and feedback for mood enhancement and introduces a broader range of instruments like the Turkish saz, trumpets, strings, piano and pedal steel guitar.

Atreyu

With Five Finger Death Punch, Fair to Midland, and Onesidezero

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 10 WHERE: Sunshine Theater, 120 Central SW HOW MUCH: Free tickets for those dropping off a new toy valued at $10 or more. One ticket per toy, limit four tickets. Drop off 5-6 p.m. today at Max Muscle Rio Rancho, northeast corner of Southern and Unser, and noon-1 p.m. Sunday at Keva Juice, Academy east of Wyoming NE. All ages

(c) 2007 Albuquerque Journal. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.