Everyone leaves a legacy behind. No matter how big or small, our words and actions echo forever and make a lasting imprint. Two decades since their 1999 formation in Southern California, that truth weighed heavy on the members of gold-selling metal mavericks Atreyu—Alex Varkatzas [vocals], Brandon Saller [drums/vocals], “BIG” Dan Jacobs [guitar], Travis Miguel [guitar], and Porter McKnight [bass]. Of course, their musical legacy speaks for itself. 2002’s Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses established them as an influential force, while 2004 follow-up The Curse sold 450,000-plus copies as the group rose to global renown. A Deathgrip on Yesterday and 2007’s Lead Sails Paper Anchor both bowed in the Top 10 of the Billboard Top 200 with the latter garnering a gold certification from the RIAA—a highly rare accomplishment for a 21st century rock band. Following a hiatus post-Congregation of the Damned in 2009, the musicians returned firing on all cylinders with Long Live during 2015. It crashed the Top 30 of the Billboard Top 200 and earned widespread acclaim from Revolver, Loudwire, AXS, and Kerrang! who dubbed it “a hell of a return.” Along the way, the boys sold out countless headline shows in addition to sharing the stage with everyone from Slipknot and Linkin Park to Chris Cornell and Avenged Sevenfold. As they commenced writing for their seventh full-length, In Our Wake [Spinefarm], the band posed an important question… “What are you going to leave behind?”, asks Brandon. “We named the album In Our Wake, because a lot of the concepts address this question. There are lyrics about dealing with your own personal demons and darkness. Some of it is about our children, which his who we live directly in our wake. Others are about the general public and the outpouring of hate and fear—especially in our country. We created something of a concept record without even trying.” “Everything we do causes a ripple or a wake,” adds Alex. “It can be positive and good, or it can be fucked up and horrible. However, we are the masters of our own destiny. We want to leave something good behind.” Following a two-year tour cycle for Long Live, Atreyu regrouped in Southern California and started sharing ideas for what would become offering number seven. Ceremoniously, they all agreed it would be the right time to reunite with producer John Feldmann who famously helmed Lead Sails and Paper Anchor. “Long Live was really heavy and reminiscent of our early material,” continues Brandon. “While we were on the road, fans kept asking to hear more from Lead Sails and Paper Anchor. It made us revisit that era of the band. It was a fun, experimental, and explorative time for us, which is so fun. We wanted to give ourselves and the landscape of heavy music a jolt, so we reached out to Feldmann.” The band recorded in two chunks bookended by Brandon’s touring obligations for Hell Or Highwater. Working out of Feldmann’s Los Angeles studio, they embraced this new approach as the producer still made them “wonderfully uncomfortable and willing to push harder,” according to Alex. “Every song with the exception of two was fully written in the studio,” says Brandon. “We’d split off into groups and crank out two ideas per day. We’d never written a fresh idea from scratch every day. Spontaneity makes things flow so much better though. We also never spread an album out like this either. We laid the foundation with five recordings, sat with them, and finished with a better picture of where we wanted to go.” As a result, the record sees Atreyu once again evolve. The first single and title track “In Our Wake” hinges on a slow burning, but bombastic percussive buildup before charging ahead with an undeniable chant and fiery fretwork. “It’s a deep one,” admits Alex. “We looked up to Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington, and their deaths were fresh during the writing process. It made us think of what we’ll leave in our wake. We have a choice to change the lives of others for the better.” A ticking clock gives way to a stadium-size chant on follow-up single “The Time Is Now.” It seesaws between a robust beat and scorching call-and-response by Alex and Brandon as they carry the carpe diem chorus. “It’s all about just grabbing life by the balls, picking yourself up by your bootstraps, and realizing you only have one shot at this,” Brandon goes on. “That was very reminiscent and reflective of this album. In our heads, there’s no time to fuck around or just do what we’ve always done. We have to really fucking go for it. Tomorrow isn’t promised, so we went for it.” Meanwhile, “Terrified” swings from a hypnotic refrain into an acoustic bridge, illuminating the diversity at the heart of In Our Wake. Closer “Super Hero” [feat. M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold & Aaron Gillespie of Underoath] conjures visions of “Atreyu meets Queen meets Disneyland meets E.L.O.” with its cinematic orchestration, horns, flutes, and grandiose production. “It’s about being your kid’s superhero, so we invited other singers who are fathers to join us,” Brandon explains. “Everyone wrote his own respective part and gave perspective on what fatherhood meant to him. I wanted it to feel like the music from the Soaring Over California ride at Disney’s California Adventure park. It ends on such a huge note and offers a breath of fresh air.” In the end, In Our Wake doesn’t just reaffirm Atreyu’s legacy, it expands it like never before. “We want to give listeners an experience,” Alex concludes. “Every track functions as its own moment. There’s something that you can hopefully come back and listen to again and again.” “I feel like this is the record that people will remember our band by,” Brandon states. “I’m saying that because the best parts of Atreyu happened on it. We’re continuing something we began a long time ago. This band means everything to me. We’ve been through incredible highs and incredible lows. We’ve loved each other, and we’ve wanted to kill each other. Somehow, twenty years later ,it’s reached a whole new level. I feel like we’re alive, and Atreyu has never been more on fire than we are now.” – Rick Florino, July 2018

Matty Mullins – Vocals Kellen McGregor – Guitar, Vocals Anthony Sepe – Guitar Cory Elder – Bass Jake Garland – Drums   The music of Memphis May Fire is the sound of hope and compassion, delivered by a dedicated group of men striving for something greater than the world around them. Memphis May Fire is a clarion call to those who insist on bettering themselves, their loved ones and the conditions afflicting the world. It’s not about divisive politics, it’s not about polarizing debate – it’s about the transcendent power of love through heavy rock.   Memphis May Fire return to the Vans Warped Tour this summer, on the iconic annual subcultural celebration’s mainstage. But first, they’ll headline the charity-driven Take Action! Tour (created by Sub City and Hopeless Records), following in the footsteps of a diverse group of groundbreaking Take Action veterans like Jimmy Eat World, The Used, Pierce The Veil, All Time Low, Breathe Carolina, Chiodos, Anberlin and Every Time I Die.   Crossing genre-barriers and standing side-by-side with the musical elite of the heavy music scene is nothing new for Memphis May Fire, who closed out 2014 co-headlining clubs across America with platinum-certified screamo/pop-punk merchants Yellowcard.    The body of work Memphis May Fire has crafted over four ambitious albums, most of them with producer and collaborator Cameron Mizell (Sleeping With Sirens, The Word Alive, Tyler Carter), represents a creative achievement beyond even what the band’s formidable success would suggest. Sure, Unconditional arrived at #1 on Billboard’s Rock, Independent and Hard Music charts, but that was just the mainstream icing on a cake that was lovingly baked by fans around the world who’ve discovered Memphis May Fire in the live setting, from satellite radio, from social media and from each other.   These five guys are like family to over a million fans following Memphis May Fire on Facebook, the tens of thousands who rushed out to put last year’s Unconditional at #4 in the Billboard 200, the dedicated diehards who empty the magazine rack whenever the group graces the cover of Big Cheese, Alternative Press, Outburn, etc. and the early believers who made Challenger the highest selling debut ever for Rise Records to that point when it was released in 2012. YouTube clips like “Sleepless Nights,” “Miles Away,” “The Sinner,” and “Vices” together represent more than 20 million views.   Charismatic frontman Matty Mullins, emboldened by a renewed purpose and the type of humility derived from personal struggles not dissimilar to the stories the band hears from their fans, leads the charge against a backdrop of instantly memorable hooks and bottom-heavy crunch. It’s all ably crafted by lead guitarist/co-founder Kellen McGregor, longtime bassist Cory Elder, deeply skilled drum basher Jake Garland and most recent addition Anthony Sepe, whose considerable guitar chops surfaced in the Challenger era.   “I feel a duty to put all of my cards on the table,” explains Mullins, speaking specifically about the emotional vulnerability all over the songs on Unconditional. “This album came from a very personal place. It’s very important for people find out someone else has gone through what they have. Otherwise, you feel like you’re losing your mind.”   The unity of shared purpose is palpable at a Memphis May Fire show, whether songs like “No Ordinary Love,” “Beneath the Skin” or “Losing Sight” are blasting from the Warped Tour’s main stage or emanating from the speakers at one of the packed clubs the band makes their nightly home. Cares cast aside, problems pushed to the forefront, the visceral connection between artist and audience is alive and audible with each sing-a-long chant. Melodic mood swingers like “Speechless” and “Need to Be” demonstrate the full capacity and scope of what Memphis May Fire is capable of doing, winning them spots on major radio festivals like Welcome to Rockville and Carolina Rebellion as their heavier side secures fests such as Download UK and Germany’s With Full Force.   An organic and incremental growth has propelled Memphis May Fire ever since they followed their 2009 underground debut with 2011’s The Hollow, a modern metalcore masterpiece that led into the broadened musical horizons of their commercial breakthrough, Challenger, and 2014 Album of the Year contender Unconditional.   Plenty of Memphis May Fire’s contemporaries have fans that profess their adoration, gratitude & even spiritual connection to the power of music, but few groups embrace the full responsibility inherent within those reactions the way Memphis May Fire has, acknowledging that something bigger than rock n’ roll has taken hold.   Make no mistake, Memphis May Fire deliver hard rock anthems steeped in modern subculture and the best of radio rock, but their purpose continues to evolve into something greatly bigger than themselves, with no limit as to what they can achieve.