Atreyu – Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses (Victory Records)
Good old reliable Victory records. Hardcore vocals (reminiscent of Lamb of God on “Black Label” damn near unintelligible, even with the lyrics in front of you) followed by clean emo/punk vocals, double bass drumming that tries to stay away from the predictability of punk drumming, cool bass lines, and nice, downright metal riffing from two guitars, although they do at times sound a bit thin and just too emo-ish/punk-ish, all wrapped up in a nice goth mood of self-pity and rejection towards the outside world. Call me crazy, but I can actually hear some Van Halen and iron Maiden influences on this one. The whole thing, however, reeks of “first album”; the songs are put together rather harshly, riffs aren’t given time to develop yet (they just jump around so much), certain ideas seem to have been haphazardly thrown together, and so I tried really hard to not like this album, just because I am a hardass like that, but I couldn’t help it. The blend of all the different styles is pulled off very nicely and the energy coming off it is undeniable. However, the lyrics... they’re just so gut-wrenchingly high-schoolish. I mean, he sings things like “I wish someone still loved me” and “oh, god, why me?” and “it only hurts when I breathe” and “you judged me and now you are me, stop playing god” and so on, you catch the drift. It’s just painful to listen to. But on the whole, this works out rather well. I dig it, and it’s definitely add-worthy, because this could appeal to a lot of people. And I’m definitely looking forward to their next album.

Recommended Tracks:
1) Probably the best song here, very melodic yet caustic and wild, cool riffs, great melodies, great harmonies, great everything, but FCC at –2:37.
2) Driving rhythms with melodic clean choruses. A quiet, mellow interlude before it launches into an all-out attack again.
3) Their “hit” single, it has the most melodic, clean vocs, hence its popularity. No worries, the harsh growls come in a little later, too. And they’re great. Some cool breakdown and attempt at a solo make this a very interesting song, indeed.
4) Some weird video-game-like lines are played on this one, and I don’t like them, Sam I am.
5) Alright, here go the hardcore, tough-guy, metalcore lyrics about someone who fucked with them; they ruin an otherwise good song, plus FCCs.
6) More teen-angst lyrics (“Oh, I’m drowning and I feel so alone”, I shit you not, that’s what he sings) that just butcher the song. FCCs.
7) FCC at –2:58, easily bleeped out, and you should because it’s a great song, with cool lyrics that find these guys tackling more real issues like religion.
8) Starts out with muffled lyrics that break out with a catchy melody line. Unfortunately, FCC at –2:14, and it’s not really worth salvaging.
9) Whoa! Awesome riffs, dude! Song about vampires. Go figure. Or maybe the vampires are supposed to be a metaphor for something else...
10) Second best song on the CD, one that combines all of the elements I described above and lifts them all higher. Galloping triplets, melodies, harmonies, gang choruses, it has it all! I like this a lot. Plus, absolutely fucking genius of a piano/guitar solo outro. Check it out.