ATREYU have dropped another melodic rock jam “Watch Me Burn” today alongside the video and announces the new EP, The Hope Of A Spark, due April 21 via Spinefarm. The video, directed by Aaran McKenzie, bassist of While She Sleeps, features English actor Leigh Gill (Joker, Game of Thrones, Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them).
The single is the EP’s phoenix rising from life’s trial-by-fire, a call to arms to let renewed hope emerge from smoldering embers and ash. “To, me it’s a song about being cleansed by fire,” said bassist Marc ‘Porter’ McKnight. “Whatever it is that’s bringing you down and holding you back, burn it down. Use it, learn from it, move on, and grow. That thing does not deserve you and you don’t deserve it.”
“It’s very relatable to all of us individually, but it’s also incredibly pertinent to the journey of this band,” adds frontman Brandon Saller, who leads the track’s anthemic, hooky chorus with a defiant cry of: Even when flames grow higher/I’ll be fighting till I’m dead.
The 4 track EP embodies everything that ATREYU has come to be, to mean, to represent, marking the beginning of the next chapter in the band’s story, with assorted pieces of an expansive puzzle still taking shape, form, and focus.
Produced by long-time collaborator John Feldmann, the new music explores reflection and rumination on the pressures, pleasures, and pains of modern life with each track representing a snapshot of deeply personal lived and shared experiences.
“The overarching concept is essentially about the seasons of life,” Saller explains. “Everyone goes through the same things, the ups, and downs of life. The emphasis really is the importance of at least respecting those, and finding the positives and the lessons from even your lowest moments.”
The already released single and opening track, “Drowning,” was written as a collective effort from each band member who poured their own experiences, be it familial health problems that guitarist Dan Jacobs was shouldering to Saller’s first encounters with feelings of anxiety, or McKnight’s long-running fight with depression. The second track, “God Devil,” laments a loss of identity, self, and faith, a desperate cry for help from a higher power, when our greatest power is one we need to find within, following, “Capital F,” which was inspired by Saller’s observations of the human plight he saw in his local community.
“We draw strength from each other and give each other the space and support to be the best, most creative person we can be,” Jacobs explains. “And together, right now, that makes us the best band we’ve ever been.”
Atreyu will kick off The Hope of a Spark headlining tour on April 27 in Sacramento at Ace of Spades with a one-off date supporting Kayzo on May 6 in Los Angeles and concluding on May 21 in Denver at the Gothic Theatre. All dates are with special guests Point North, Within Destruction and LYLVC, unless otherwise noted. Tickets are available for purchase here.
U.S. Tour Dates:
04/27/23 – Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
04/28/23 – Reno, NV @ Virginia Street Brewhouse
04/29/23 – Bend, OR @ Midtown Ballroom
04/30/23 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox
05/02/23 – Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory
05/03/23 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex
05/05/23 – Phoenix, AZ @ Van Buren
05/06/23 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Kia Forum *
05/07/23 – San Diego, CA @ House of Blues
05/08/23 – Tucson, AZ @ Encore
05/10/23 – San Antonio, TX @ Vibes Event Center
05/11/23 – Corpus Christi, TX @ Brewster Street Ice House
05/12/23 – Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
05/13/23 – Dallas, TX @ The Echo Lounge & Music Hall
05/15/23 – Joliet, IL @ The Forge
05/16/23 – Belvedere, IL @ The Apollo
05/18/23 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom
05/19/23 – Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theater
05/20/23 – Colorado Springs, CO @ Sunshine Studios Live **
05/21/23 – Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre **
* = supporting Kayzo
** = without Point North
ATREYU ushered in a new movement in heavy music. Their music seamlessly intertwines with formative experiences for a diverse legion of dedicated listeners, many of whom started their own bands. They’ve broken into the Top 10 in the Billboard 200 more than once; two of their albums, The Curse and Lead Sails Paper Anchor, are certified gold with 2 million albums sold worldwide and an encompassing 600 million streams. Their most recent album, Baptize has clocked 65 million streams alongside a Top 10 at rock radio hit with “Warrior” featuring Travis Barker.
Where once the band was heralded as the early innovators of the nascent metalcore scene, their place in heavy music’s diverse and boundary-breaking scene has never felt more relevant, with inspirations of pop-punk, hardcore, thrash, ‘80s rock, and more melding into a unique and varied sound that has never felt more relevant than in today’s increasingly genreless world.
With a 20-year career and eight acclaimed albums in the rear-view mirror, ATREYU in 2023 is focused only on the present and the future, and a mission to continue shaping and defining the rock and metal scene, just as they have always done since their emergence from Huntington Beach in Southern California.
Frontman Brandon Saller, guitarists Dan Jacobs and Travis Miguel, bassist Porter McKnight and drummer Kyle Rosa are one of the most respected names and potent forces in heavy music, and their live show is one of the most heralded on the touring circuit.
