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The young emocore band Atreyu has taken their name from the lead character in the classic children's fantasy movie The Neverending Story. In the movie, Atreyu is a confused, idealistic boy who has heroism thrust upon him. With only his own love and courage for protection, Atreyu goes on a life-or-death quest and eventually defeats The Nothing, an all-devouring evil power that has been threatening to destroy his world. Both the virtues and trials of the cinematic Atreyu are apparent in the band's music, as well as a desperate desire for a more magical world than the one we're living in now. But don't get confused and think that Atreyu is all butterflies and rainbows. On the contrary, Atreyu's songs are intense bursts of melodic rage, directed at anything and everything that vocalist Alex Varkatzas perceives as unjust or wrong. Setting the band apart form many of their emocore contemporaries, Atreyu balances out Varkatza's snarling lyrical delivery with drummer Brandon Saller's tranquilized, dead-pan harmonies. This double-vocalist style allows the band to take a more nuanced approach to songwriting. Completely belying their Orange County origins, Atreyu bring an impressive level of musicianship to their high-decibel emo anthems, making them anti-conformist heroes wherever they play. On their major label debut, Suicide Notes & Butterfly Kisses, Atreyu made extreme noise accessible to music fans that might have been used to more pop-punk fare. Haunting singles like "Lip Gloss and Black" and the sardonic "Ain't Love Grand" helped to establish the band and bring them to the attention of modern rock audiences. It didn't hurt that Atreyu also quickly built up a reputation for completely killing all of their live shows. On their follow-up, 2004's The Curse, the band lashed out against everything from teen-pop to child abuse, and the disc earned them rave critical reviews. The band's most recent album has been the moody Lead Sails Paper Anchor, and they have also scheduled a tour with the fellow tattooed OC band Avenged Sevenfold and Welsh rockers Bullet For My Valentine.

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