ATREYU: New Album Artwork Unveiled; 'Storm To Pass' Video In The Works

Orange County, California's ATREYU will shoot a video this week for "Storm to Pass", the first single from the band's new album, "Congregation of the Damned". The song is currently streaming on the group's MySpace page along with the new cut "Stop! Before It's Too Late and We've Destroyed it All".

The video for "Storm to Pass" will be shot September 22 and 23 in the desert near Palm Springs, California and will be directed by Sean Stiegemeier, who has worked with the band on clips for "Falling Down", "Doomsday", "The Crimson" and "Lip Gloss and Black".

In the video, the band is shot from a variety of angles rocking out as storms build around them. "[Vocalist] Alex [Varkatzas] talks so much in the song about weather and storms, so I thought it would be visually cool to incorporate a lot of that," Stiegemeier says. "And when you dive deeper into the song, you realize Alex is using the storms as a metaphor for the problems you create for yourself. So there are all these people creating these storms that ATREYU are forced to play in."

Varkatzas and two other characters will play the role of deities, and as the tension and turbulence grows, they'll create a windstorm, then a lightning storm that sets the area ablaze and finally a rainstorm that extinguishes the fire.

"We're not going to be pampering ATREYU in this one," Stiegemeier says. "We'll be blowing fans as fast as humanly possible at them, and ash and dust will be flying at them and fire will be surrounding them. We'll be drenching them in rain and putting them through all kinds of hell. It's a good thing we're friends and they're letting me get away with all this. But I'm sure they'll get me back somehow in the end."

The video for "Storm to Pass" is scheduled to debut the week of October 12.

The "Storm to Pass" video isn't the only high-tech treat that awaits ATREYU fans before the October 27 release of "Congregation of the Damned". An upcoming video game on the band's web site will premiere on October 13 and will give fans a sneak preview of the track Gallows". In the game, which was influenced by George Romero's classic movie "Night of the Living Dead", players battle a variety of zombies — some of whom resemble powerful political figures — in an attempt to stay alive. The third in a series of ATREYU games was designed by Jason Oda, who has also a designed hit game for FALL OUT BOY and conceived the classic "Dropkick the Faint".

In other Internet media, ATREYU will be the special guests on this week's AOL Noisecreep podcast "Creep Show", which debuts September 23. During the program, a panel of journalists interviewed Varkatzas and drummer Brandon Saller about the creation of "Congregation of the Damned", the meanings of "Storm to Pass" and "You Were the King Now You're Unconscious", and the political focus of the new album. Noisecreep also talked with ATREYU about Varkatzas' martial arts training, the insignificance of genre labeling and the effect Varkatzas' upcoming marriage might have on the band's future output.

ATREYU will roll out the last three of their "Congregation of the Damned" webisodes September 22, October 6 and October 20. And don't miss them on tour with HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD, starting October 16 in Lubbock, Texas and running through November 21 in Los Angeles.

"Congregation Of The Damned" track listing:

01. Stop! Before It's Too Late and We've Destroyed it All
02. Bleeding Is A Luxury
03. Congregation Of The Damned
04. Coffin Nails
05. Black Days Begin
06. Gallows
07. Storm To Pass
08. You Were King Now You're Unconscious
09. Insatiable
10. So Wrong
11. Ravenous
12. Lonely
13. Wait For You

The CD cover artwork can be viewed below.