American metalcore stalwarts Atreyu make a passionate return to the hearts of fans everywhere with “The Pronoia Sessions”, a new collection of eight reimagined greatest hits and two nostalgic tribute covers. The album is due out this fall on Spinefarm. The digital release will begin streaming on October 25th while vinyl and CDs will hit streets on November 8th.
The band shared this about the upcoming release: “This album, to us, was something that initially came from the fans. During Covid, we started toying around with doing acoustic performances for the first time in our career. Since the release of “Gone (Reimagined)”, the outpouring of love and interest from our fans was overwhelming. It got us thinking… what if we didn’t just make some of our classics acoustic, what if we took them to a whole new place? We feel with this album we have carved out a new home for these songs to stand on their own. They are new entities in our musical landscape.
“Making this album brought us such a sense of joy and creativity. It was as if the universe handed us this moment and it was meant to happen…hence, “The Pronoia Sessions”.”
Today, in perfect timing with what would have been Chris Cornell‘s 60th birthday on July 20th, the band shares the album news alongside its first single, an emotional renderin of Audioslave’s ‘Like A Stone’.
Commenting on the track, Atreyu had this to say: “The covers on this album presented us with the opportunity to take some of our favorites and make them our own. The album has an overarching, somber feel. We wanted songs that would stay in that realm. ‘Like A Stone’ is one of the most iconic rock songs of our time. Chris Cornell’s vocal is a treasure. We hope to have done right by his legacy.”
Atreyu is a band with a legacy seamlessly intertwined with formative experiences for a diverse legion of listeners worldwide. “The Pronoia Sessions” deconstructs, recreates, and reshapes the Orange County, California, band’s beloved anthems (and cover songs) as a haunting and hypnotic new collection. What began as an acoustic album evolved into a grand re-imagining of the band’s classics.
The genesis stretches back to a series of acoustic performances at special events on the road. “We had the idea to do a show similar to Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged as a one-off thing,” explains frontman Brandon Saller. “Then we thought, ‘Why not spend some time on it in the studio?’ And it built from there. ‘How far can we push this?’ It spawned from there and unexpectedly turned into this monster.”
Atreyu’s riffs, hooks, melodies, lyrics, and passion are essential parts of a vibrant subculture’s emergence across theaters, clubs, festivals, radio, and playlists. The artistic fearlessness powering landmark albums like “The Curse and Lead Sails Paper Anchor” is even stronger in 2024. ‘Becoming the Bull’, one of the two gold singles released in 2007, takes on new life on “The Pronoia Sessions”.
The songs reimagined on the album stretch back to 2004’s “The Curse” (‘Right Side of the Bed’) and 2006’s “A Death-Grip On Yesterday” (‘Ex’s & Ohs’, ‘The Theft’). Two of their biggest hits, ‘Warrior’ and ‘Save Us’, are reworked from 2021’s “Baptize”. And there are new versions of ‘Gone’ and ‘Drowning’ from their most recent release, 2023’s “The Beautiful Dark of Life”.
In addition to their own songs, Atreyu offers dark takes on Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers‘ classic ‘Mary Jane’s Last Dance’ and the enduring, Chris Cornell-led Audioslave ballad ‘Like a Stone’.
“Let’s see how we can take what exits already and turn it on its head. With some of the older stuff, the vocals have a more melodic approach, but with much of the same phrasing,” Saller explains. “We’ve also incorporated more members of the band. Porter sings, like on ‘Ex’s & Ohs.’ On ‘Right Side of the Bed,’ there’s a saxophone solo instead of a guitar solo, and it’s Dan playing the saxophone.”
Unbound by false restrictions about anything sounding “too heavy” or “too pop,” Atreyu remains a creative beacon of hope for the people shaken by the suggestion that “rock is dead.” They’ve broken into the Top 10 in the Billboard 200 more than once; two of their albums are certified gold.
Pre-orders can be found HERE.
“The Pronoia Sessions” Track List:
- Becoming the Bull (Reimagined)
- Save Us (Reimagined)
- Ex’s & Oh’s (Reimagined)
- Right Side of the Bed (Reimagined)
- Like A Stone (Audioslave Cover)
- Drowning (Reimagined)
- The Theft (Reimagined)
- Gone (Reimagined)
- Warrior (Reimagined)
- Mary Jane’s Last Dance (Tom Petty Cover)
ATREYU are:
Brandon Saller / Lead vocals
Dan Jacobs / Guitar
Travis Miguel / Guitar
Porter McKnight / Bass
