Underoath, August Burns Red, Atreyu, und As Cities Burn

With a name drawn from “somewhere from the bible”, Underoath was formed by singer Dallas Taylor and guitarist Luke Morton in 1997. Fellow church attendee Aaron Gillespie was later invited to join the group on drums, followed by guitarist Corey Steger and bassist Octavio Fernandez during their time in high school. Following a series of festival appearances and local shows in Florida, the band ignore to Takehold Records in 1999 and released their debut full-length “Act of Depression” the same year. The record combined the Christian metal, death metal, and black metal genres, and marked the departure of guitarist Luke Morton.

The five-track full-length studio album “Cries of the Past” arrived in July 2000, extolled by music critics and featuring keyboard player Christopher Dudley. Following a Takehold Records merger with Seattle-based label Tooth & Nail/Solid State, Underoath returned to the studio, the fruit of which marked the group’s most experienced and progressive record to date. Released in February 2003, “The Changing of Times” received positive reviews from the press for its hardcore approach combined with indie rock, loop pedals and melodic vocal harmonies. To the surprise of fellow band mates and a host of fans, vocalist Dennis Taylor left the group during their 2013 Warped Tour, leaving Underoath’s longevity in doubt.

However, with the addition of bassist Grant Brandell, guitarist James Smith and vocalist Spencer Chamberlain, the band persevered to release “They’re Only Chasing Safety” in June 2004. Produced by longterm producer James Paul Wisner, the record again saw a shift in direction compared to its predecessors, with the band adopting a decidedly screamo approach. Led by the singles “Reinventing Yourself” and “It’s Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Font Door”, the album proved hugely popular among critics, and won a Dove nomination for Best Rock Album.

The much heavier full-length “Define the Great Line” followed in June 2006, marked by complex time signatures and apt ambience. Peaking at No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard 200, it was their highest charting album to date, as well as the highest charting Christian album since LeAnn Rimes’s “You Light Up My Life”."Lost in the Sound of Separation” hit the shelves in 2008 featuring a darker, more experimental sound, followed by Ø (Disambiguation)” in 2009.

Formed of members Jon Hershey on lead vocals, JB Brubaker on lead guitar, Brent Rambler on rhythm guitar, Matt Greiner on drums and piano, and Jordan Tuscan on bass guitar, the band began practicing during high school in bassist Matt Greiner’s basement. After a number of local shows in the Lancaster, Pennsylvania, U.S., area the band released their first EP named “Looks Fragile After All” on the label CI Records in 2004.

Soon after, lead singer Hershey quit and vocal responsibilities fell to Josh McManness and the band signed to the Christian label Solid State Records in 2005. On November 8, 2005 the band released their debut album “Thrill Seeker” along with a video for the single “Your Little Suburbia Is In Ruins”. The album’s release marked the departure of vocalist McManness and bassist Jordan Tuscan, who were replaced with Jake Luhrs and Dustin Davidson respectively.

Luhrs’ debut album with the band “Messengers” released in June 2007 became August Burns Red’s breakthrough album charting at No. 81 on the Billboard 200, and allowed the band an extensive tour schedule across North America and Europe. During which the band played alongside the likes of A Skylit Drive, Sky Eats Airplane and Greeley Estates. August Burns Red also appeared on the 2009 “Punk Goes Pop 2” compilation album covering Britney Spears’ “…Baby One More Time”.

The band’s sound is referred to commonly as metalcore, although due to the precise and powerful breakdowns, blissfully melodic guitar riffs have often been identified as melodic metalcore.

In 2009 the band released “Lost Messenger: The Outtakes” a multitude of material not thought appropriate for the “Messengers” album, as well as their third full-length LP “Constellations” which was available to stream via their MySpace before its release on July 14, 2009. The album charted at No. 24 on the Billboard 200 and led to a U.S. tour alongside Blessthefall and Enter Shikari and Australian tour with Parkway Drive and A Day to Remember.

August Burns Red’s fourth album “Leveller” continued and expanded on the commercial success of the band charting at No. 11 on the Billboard 200, only bettered by their fifth album “Rescue & Restore” which debuted at No. 9.

Atreyu was founded in 1998 by vocalist Alex Varkatzas, guitarist Dan Jacobs, bassist Brian O’Donnell, and drummer Brandon Saller, although at the time they toured under the name Retribution. They later changed their name upon discovering that it was already taken by another Californian band.

Atreyu started their career playing an aggressive blend of metal doused in raw ethos and set a flame with searing guitar riffs, blood curdling screams, and thunderous drums. The band is strongly influenced by the expected heavy metal legends (i.e. Slayer, Black Sabbath), but also cites less predictable sources of inspiration like Swedish post-hardcore pioneers Refused, experimental art punk king Nick Cave, and formative emo acts like Hot Water Music.

The group released their first EP “Visions” independently in 1999. It came out through the California based label Die Trying Records and has since become a highly sought after rarity due to it’s limited production run. Atreyu’s 2nd EP “Fractures In the Facade of Your Porcelain Beauty” came out in 2001, this time through Tribunal. This EP like their previous one is incredibly hard to find and is also their first release to feature the implementation of two guitarists.

Atreyu entered into one of Victory record’ notoriously rigorous contracts in 2001, producing some of their most critically acclaimed material during this period. Their debut album “Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses” came out in 2002 and though it initially only generated a cult following, it later tapped into the mainstream thanks to repeated plays on shows like Headbangers Ball and Uranium.

Their sophomore effort “The Curse” came out in 2004 and sold close to half a million copies following its release. The band’s profile started to rise shortly after, primarily due to several appearances in films (“Mr. and Mrs. Smith” and “Underworld: Evolution”) and video games (“Burnout 3”).

“A Death-Grip On Yesterday”, the third album by Atreyu exceeded the commercial success of their previous releases and was likewise revered by critics. Though it was leaked through the P2P website BitTorrent before its official release, the album still ended up doing incredibly well on the charts peaking at No. 9 on the Billboard 200. Their next release “The Best Of... Atreyu” appeared at No. 103 on the Billboard 200 and No. 6 on the Top Independent Albums chart. It also marked their last release through Victory records.

In 2007 the band signed on with world renowned metal label Roadrunner Records and released their album “Lead Sails Paper Anchor” later that year. This release rose to No. 8 on the Billboard 200 and featured 3 singles, including the stand out tracks “Falling Down” and the Hot Topic exclusive “Becoming the Bull”. The re-release included the cover songs “Epic” by Faith No More and “Clean Sheets” by the Descendants. Atreyu promoted this release on both the US and UK legs of the Taste of Chaos tour playing alongside Bullet for My Valentine, Avenged Seven Fold, As I Lay Dying, D’esparis Ray, and Mucc.

The band’s next album “Congregation of the Damned” proved to be dynamically varied in terms of style and technique, but was also cited as the group’s most coherent release. It also featured credits from Ozzy Osbourne collaborator Bob Marlette and sound mixer Rich Costey, an affiliate of System of a Down and Rage Against the Machine. They promoted the release on an extensive co-headlining tour with Hollywood Undead, Escape the Fate, and the Sleeping.

Producer Bob Marlette returned to work with the band on their 5th studio album, which featured contributions from members of Chiodos, blessthefall, Endless Hallway, and Architects. Atreyu went on a series of tours backing this release before taking a three year break starting in 2011.

Atreyu ended their hiatus in 2014, releasing the free of cost track “So Other’s May Live” on their website. Atreyu also began playing live shows that year, performing at festivals such as South By So What?! and Slipknot’s Knotfest.

Giving a good name to Christian rock acts everywhere, As Cities Burn formed in 2002 and within two years of forming, had already built up enough of a fan following and developed their sound to attract the attention of Solid State Records. The Tooth and Nail imprint snapped them up almost as soon as they heard about them, and wisely enough, the band decided to take their time creating their debut effort, releasing “Son, I Loved You At Your Darkest” in June 2005, almost a year after they signed to Solid State. Coming at the height of the 2000's post-hardcore boom, the album nearly slipped under the radar, but after strong critical notices and a slot on the Solid State Young Bloods tour alongside The Chariot, Showbread and He Is Legend in the same year, the band started building up a devoted fan following. It would be this fan following that literally saved the band, as a year later in June 2006, the band announced their intention to split.

However, the fan outcry was so strong, passionate and supportive, the band decided to stay together, releasing their second album “Come Now Sleep” in August 2007. However, the damage had been done, and after the release of “Hell Or High Water”, their third album, the band split properly in July 2009. Or so it seemed. After two years, the band announced that they would be getting back together to play a couple of shows playing their debut album in full, and after those shows were rapturously received by both fans and critics, the band announced that they were getting back together full time in summer 2012. No-one can deny that this is a band that have the world at their feet over a decade after their formation, and what's coming next is an exciting prospect for rock fans of all shapes and sizes. For that, they come highly recommended.