Long Live is the sixth studio album of the American metalcore/post-hardcore band Atreyu and it has been six years since their last album Congregation of the Damned, making Love Live a long-anticipated album by their fans.
Production-wise, Long Live still sounds like their previous albums, which may not be a good thing. The production of Love Live is definitely far from up-to-par with the 2015 metalcore/post-hardcore standard, but that’s okay because Atreyu is well-liked more for their catchy and groovy melodies than their production.
The album blasts open with the fast double kick and the intense riffing of title track “Long Live,” which reminds me of “Bleeding Mascara” in their most favoured album The Curse. Alex Varkatzas’ screaming is just as emotional as it has been, and surprisingly, his clean singing in the chorus is sounding more tasteful than before. Dan Jacobs’ guitar solos come in during a bridge, interacting with Varkatzas’ lo-fi screaming, ending the bridge with a slow but beautiful solo. This solo then leads the song into an impactful breakdown that goes so well with the song that I get elated listening to it, and again when this breakdown is repeated one more time at the very end of the song. That breakdown is no doubt my favourite part of this title track.
The second track however, “Live to Labor,” doesn’t sound as catchy as the first one and the chorus, although sounding fairly pleasant, is a bit too generic, probably due to the chord progression. “I Would Kill Lie Die (For You)” promisingly marches in with another killer riffage and heavy drum beats, but the song doesn’t really expand and the chorus doesn’t fit well with the song. Same goes for “Cut Off the Head,” which has very cool riffs but the chorus isn’t that great.
“A Bitter Broken Memory” is my other favourite song from the album. The song opens up with some clean guitars and kicks in with the very well-composed guitars. The left guitar and the right guitar play at different riffs that compliment each other, giving it a harmonic feel. The chorus is very well done with some background “ah” vocals, with clean singing and screaming interacting with each other, making the chorus sound grand.
Their sixth song, “Do You Know Who You Are” is a very strange track. It’s the odd man out in the album because it sounds nothing like the other tracks. Although at times the song sounds like mainstream pop rock and other times sounds like old school hard rock, it does have a very nice solo.
The seventh track, “Revival (Interlude)” is a nice piece of instrumental with acoustic guitars and strings. Following is “Heartbeats And Flatlines.” The interlude leads into this track flawlessly and the opening neo-classical riff is definitely a highlight of the album. However, the vocal melody during the chorus sounds quite forced and ultimately ruins the song.
The ninth track, “Brass Ball” has a very unique intro remnant of AC/DC.The whole song is fantastic. The guitars are so well-composed that the whole track is full of a lot of movement, making it a track that I will definitely listen to again and again.
“Moments Before Dawn” is off to a great start, with the beautiful harmonized solo together with the slow paced drums. It has a very big sounding chorus and the whole song gives out a sad vibe. The second last track “Start to Break” sounds like classic Atreyu right from the beginning. The intro solo is easily one of the best tunes in this album and the chorus comes in perfectly.
The album ends with “Reckless,” which fortunately, or rather, unfortunately, also sounds like classic Atreyu. The song is as heavy as it is intense. The track closes with a strong headbanging breakdown, enhanced with a snare that has a lot of reverb.
After listening to every song in the album carefully, I can definitely tell that Atreyu has put a lot of effort and it surely shows on the musicality in the album. It’s a quite diverse album, where you can hear tracks that sound very different from each other. I had a great time listening to it.
James Zhan, Staff Writer
Featured image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
