Review Summary: Cash-Out. Done.
Atreyu. Best of Album. It realy should be left at that. But it can't be. The truth must be told.......
I cannot say that I like Atreyu. I just can't. But you know what, they do their thing. They scream, they sing, they cry, they play cheesy metal solos, and they have no rhythm section. But sometimes, the band is a little intense, and enjoyable. Predictable, but enjoyable (a little).
However the songs carry on in their sad little room blowing things out of proportion such as, ummm.....LIFE. The album is 18 songs of the same crap just recycled over and over again, with total predictability, through and through. Alex, the screamer, is one of the worst screamers I've ever heard. And he doesn’t mature. Spencer Chamberlaine (of Underoath), sucked on his first album with the band. But by Define the Great Line, he's basically incredible. But Alex just drags on with no mercy. It's pitiful. Their drummer Brandon sings melodically, and is quite good when you're in the mood because, like the entire record, it's predictable. Alex drags on in the verse, and Brandon whines in the Chorus.
In songs like
Ex's and Oh's, however, we get a little surprise. Though they are cheesy, guitarist’s Dan Jacobs, and Travis Miguel showcase very good guitar leads. Plenty of tapping and pinch harmonics, they plays it cool, you know, the usual metal deal. It's very refreshing after trying to get through the vocals.
So, why the 1.5, you ask. It looks like the band should get at least a 2 maybe, MAYBE a 2.5. But no. Here's the reason.
Let's go back to the early 90's. Hardcore was dominated by either emo bands such as Cap'n Jazz, Swing Kids, Saetia, Native Nod, and Orchid, or something called Metalcore, where bands such as Earth Crisis, Bloodlet, and Killing Time. Now most emo bands came from the midwest or D.C. (excuse Native Nod). These metalcore bands usually originated from New York. And even though Chicago was damn straight mid-west, Victory it took in the metalcore bands, and released all their material. Victory was regarded highly amongst Hardcore fans, and rightfully so. The label was DIY as it could be. They had their own street team, their own distributing, and their own bands. Fast foward about twelve years. Now look at Victory. Taking young bands with lots of talents and molding their music into radio friendly "pop screamo". Take Hawthorne Heights for example. They started decently as A Day in the Life, but by their latest record, their lyrics are plummeting, and their music is pretentious.
So this album should not exist. No need. Atreyu has three albums. Victory prove themselves to be the biggest sell outs on the face of the earth. In a last minute attempt to make a last minute buck on a band leaving for a major label. It's a classic example of what our so called "scene" is turning into. We're taking great little indie labels and just exploiting them until they just seem to be Majors trying to act cool. And it's not working.
