A letter of apology to the readers of this site and the editor:

I feel bad for ever liking this band and ever giving them a rating that would indicate they deserve any credibility whatsoever. Hey we all make mistakes . . . all right? So I'm sorry if for some reason my opinion in the last review swayed you to buy this CD and now you are truly bummed because your collection includes 14 more dollars worth of unequivocably repugnant shit. My bad.

So I really liked this band up until recently. The power riffs and slamming configs were at times amazing. But now all this repetition and relentless screaming/melodic vocal range makes me wish I had a time machine enabling me to go back and slap myself for being such a damn sap. I just wish that the powers of the screamo-metal core gods of the universe would somehow come down and repossess Atreyu's guitars, amps, musical catalog, tatoos, groupies, everything and banish them to the netherworld's airport where they must stand naked for all eternity at the douche baggage claim. Never before have I seen such a group of individuals go from a blossoming pop metal band to an overproduced pile of nasty burning rubbish. I loved the last record The Curse - I thought it was a well put together album and really stepped out of the tired boundaries of the genre. The melodic mixed with the scream-along catchiness was undeniable.

And once again So-Cal power metal super group, Atreyu, return with their third major release, Death Grip On Yesterday. On first listen the opener "Creature" is what you want to hear, the familiar sound of a good Atreyu song. This song is the beginning of the end however. It then shifts into "Shameful" - an aptly titled trite and predictable track that gets it's death grip on mediocrity when the chorus kicks in with it's "start over, start over" mantra that seriously drove me up the wall. Guitar jibs and weird, slow emo singing run-a-mucketry is on the rise with Atreyu. "Bad-Ass Guitar Dude" even says that the guitar jibbers ("My fork in the road") aren't even "that tight." Whether he was talking about style or originality was unclear. But hey, maybe this is what they are trying to do - get a little mellower and dorkier? Don't believe me? Check out "The Theft." Don't listen to this one for too long and for God's sake put the gun down - it's only 14 dollars. Get a grip, it's yesterday - you have the rest of your life. Did Good Charlotte produce this shit? "Ex's and Oh's" has an extensive guitar breakdown in which dueling guitars take the gritty "metal" solo to the heights of stadium rock. And yes I liked the last album. Suicide Notes not so much, but this is the third album, and isn't this when bands start getting a little retardo? "We Stand Up" also has its moments but left me with nothing more enthusiastic than a shrug of my slumped shoulders.

I don't know what it is, just something is not right. It's too polished, too contained and contrived. And worst of all, they've gotten soft - gay, middle-of-the-road slush metal - goodness. But Atreyu are definitely progressing in terms of "dark metallic screamo-core pop." "Your Private War" showcases this, still one has to puzzle over what direction they're trying to go. Expanding boundaries for certain genres can be good, but for some (Atreyu-ish bands) the only way is to clean it up, sell it out, and get paid bitch.

Verdict: Punk marketing goons - this shit is so hot right now.