THE TIME IS NOW!
“Everyone leaves a legacy no matter how big or small”, so when our time’s up, what will we leave in our wake? With the earth being plagued with recent pestilence (the deadly strand of Coronavirus), war, famine and ultimately, death, not to mention the recent catastrophic bushfires then flooding in Australia, you’d think the four horseman have risen and it really is armageddon!
So it’s a good thing U.S Metalcore godfathers Atreyu have raised the question of what will we leave in our wake with their latest album ‘In Our Wake’.
You may not think now is the time for such questions, but yes, the time is now...
In all the chaos in the wake of this concert, I’ve had time to reflect and put this show into perspective. When I recently spoke to drummer and vocalist Brandon (listen to the full interview here) and asked, “when you come out onto the stage, what do you give fans that other metal bands don’t?” Brandon told me “for us music is a place where we can go and let our guard down, and kind of, be vulnerable, kind of, show our insides a bit, we want people to be able to do the same thing at our shows. I think a lot of metal shows or heavy music is very serious and whatever, we’re very lighthearted on stage it’s a very fun atmosphere I think that, we want to give that open door for people to just come and lose their s***”. So, was shit lost?... figuratively, not literally.
For starters, before doors open, I notice that the queue of fans waiting to enter isn’t exactly extensive, and those of here seem quite calm and unsurprisingly, I hear talk of VOCID19, so has this scared fans away and put a damp blanket on the night?
Secondly, this venue plays host to many heavy genre performances, and I’ve got to know the typical sound here, it’s like a natural ruby, red-hot, dense, has many layers but can often bare too many imperfections (in this case commonly too much bass) and generally is clear, but still gritty.
Thirdly, typically the opening song will be the first song off the bands’ touring album, and the grand finale will be their greatest hit, so in this case, ‘In Our Wake’ and ‘Becoming The Bull’ respectively?
So, is this a clear but gritty little gem that makes us lose our s***?
In a nutshell, yes, much s*** was lost! The band did not however, fulfill my prediction of the opening and closing songs however, instead, they chose the placement of the songs throughout the show according to the rise and fall of energy it would seem, which is in my opinion, a far more effective move, as if you’ve paid to see a band who has more than one “hit”, chances are no matter what, everyone’s gonna stick around until the very end anyway, whether you leave your best to last or not. So when they open the show with ‘The Time Is Now’... any guesses as to what was lost?
Despite my observation earlier of a laxed queue, the venue is absolutely packed now thankfully, also thankfully, people are politely and respectfully losing their s***, they’re dancing, jumping and singing along, which the latter does render the sound mix hard to hear the bands’ vocals at times, but all in all is a pretty top-quality sound mix. Even when a band member steps off the stage and onto the step of the barricade to engage fans, people are still letting everyone around them, you know, breathe and stay alive.
Currently as I write this two weeks later, thinking back over the concert going over my notes, it brings a smile to my face and gives me a warm refreshing respite from the stress and gloom of the COVID19 outbreak, which has been making me lose my s*** in a whole other way.
So whether it is the anthemic sing alongs, the intense energy the entire band dished out from start to finish, the flow of energy from song to song or the addition of a brilliant cover of Bon Jovi’s ‘You Give Love A Bad Name’, which brings the singing along to a whole new height, or all the above, Brandon was true to his word and gave us all the open door for us to let our guard down, and lose our s***.
Now that's what sets Atreyu apart from other heavy metal bands!