Atreyu found its way back to Holland after a five year absence and made their presence felt in the small room of the Melkweg (a bit surprising, since I had always the impression that Atreyu was a bigger band than that and would easily be able to fill bigger venues). But before we got our heads blown off by a very motivated Atreyu, it was the band Ashes Of Many which had the pleasure to warm up the crowd a bit.

 

This Dutch band was for me a complete unknown and after checking some songs on Yoube, I wasn’t really impressed. Luckily the band shows to be quite a bit better in a live environment. The shirt and ties of the other musicians were offset by the typical modern metalcore look of the singer. I am not a big fan of these kind of antics or do it well and go all overboard (Slipknot and Kiss for example) or just don’t do it. Musically the guys brought us a blend of modern metalcore with some mathcore influences. The mathcore influences were a bit of a hit and miss, some elements fit really well in the songs others were feeling a bit forced. The more straight forward metalcore songs were a bit better suited for this band, although truth needs to be told that it’s clear that the musicians know how to play. Just a bit more experience and more focus on their songwriting skills and I am curious how this band could develop. For now it was an okay opener, nothing more and nothing less.

 

From the first tones of their music, the crowd was lit on fire! From the start there was so much energy from the band to the public and back. It was really a sight to behold! Starting off with their new single ‘Long Live’, it showed that Atreyu is really back from the dead. A song that easily blends in with their older material and showed a bit more grit than some of their more modern songs. What follows then is a triump march from begin to end. With songs like ‘Becoming The Bull’, ´The Crimson’, ‘When Two Are One’ easily putting the crowd more and more to the brink, the band showed an excellent combination of fun, musicianship and just straightforward passion.

 

The fun was shown in their cover choices of ‘You Give Love A Bad Name’ (which was made fun of by drummer Brandon of being a really weak song) and ‘Fresh Prince Of Bel Air’, but also when they picked up a song sung by the crowd and made it into a jam. Alex and Marc even found their way into the crowd and into the pit to interact with the crowd even more. Which fueled the energy level even more!