The boom of rap-metal and post hardcore in the late 1990’s brought into the musical scene new energetic bands, among which, Atreyu is one of the most representatives of this genre. Atreyu was formed in 1998, in California's Orange County although the band was formerly named "Retribution".
In the quest of originality the band was renamed Atreyu after the fictional character of the fantasy movie "The Neverending Story" after finding that another Californian band was playing with the name "Retribution". Atreyu also had to refine their original metalcore sound to differentiate their music from bands like Hatebreed and Agnostic Front.
The band is made up of Alex Varkatzas (vocals), Dan Jacobs (guitar), Travis Miguel (guitar), Chris Thomson (bass), and Brandon Saller (drums & vocals). Atreyu released several demo tapes and the EP "Visions" featuring seven songs, although their first commercial success came in 2001 with the EP "Fractures in the Facade of Your Porcelain Beauty".
Atreyu's debut album, "Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses", was not released until 2002. This was followed by a non-stop promotion tour that came with lineup changes introducing new bassist Marc McKnight replacing Chris Thomson. At this time, Atreyu was building a loyal fan database.
In June 2004, Atreyu released their second album, "The Curse" that hit number 32 on the US charts and sold over 300,000 copies. Starting from here, the band began a breakthrough into the mainstream playing at the Ozzy Osbourne's 2004 Ozzfest and the Warped Tour 2005, the year in which "The Curse" was re-released now with a DVD.
Atreyu's following albums, "A Death-Grip on Yesterday" (2006) and "Lead Sails Paper Anchor" (2007), hit numbers 9 and 8 of the Billboard's chart respectively. In 2006, Atreyu was invited for a second stage at the Ozzfest and toured extensively alongside Chiodos, “From First to Last and Every Time I Dieâ€, Chiodos later began their own world tour.
The band consolidated their profile when one of their songs was included in the soundtrack of the movie "Underworld: Evolution". During that year and later in 2007, Atreyu was featured on the Family Values Tour and then started a new tour on their own across the USA and Europe.
Below are people interested in Atreyu chat; join the chat room to chat with people about Atreyu.