ATREYU's BRANDON SALLER On 'The End Is Not The End': 'For The First Time In Our Career, We Sat Down And Talked About What We Wanted The Next Album To Be'

In a new interview with Loud & Clear With Belgian Jasper, ATREYU frontman Brandon Saller spoke about the band's upcoming album, "The End Is Not The End", which will arrive on April 24 via Spinefarm. Regarding ATREYU's overall mindset when approaching the songwriting for the LP, Brandon said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We sort of realized that one of our secret moves or special moves, so to speak, was that we never really fit in anywhere. We kind of always carved our own lane and we didn't fully belong in punk rock or metal or hardcore or anything. We sort of just bridged the gap and had a foot in each. And I think that's why we were successful in the first place at all. And I feel like even sonically, our albums always sounded a bit askew from what was going on in the landscape. So we sort of leaned into both of those concepts really hard and just sort of like really tried to create our own path again and really sort of be a one-of-one sort of band."

Saller went on to say that more thought and planning went into the making of "The End Is Not The End" than had previously been the case with any of the older ATREYU records.

"For the first time, really, in our career, we sat down and talked about what we wanted the next album to be, what we wanted our next sort of voice to be," he explained. "And we never do that. It's always sort of more shoot from the hip, like get in the studio and we start writing and then, oops — that's what we sound like now. We've never really sat down and had multiple discussions about that. And it was sort of realizing what the important DNA of our band was and what the unimportant DNA of our band was, what the things that were important if they were front and center, if they had sort of taken a back seat and sort of leaning on all of our favorite parts within the band, to us, and just going full throttle with them. So it was definitely more thought out than it's ever been, for sure, 'cause we've never even had those discussions before. It's always just been, like, let art be art. And obviously we still do that now, but it was a thought-out process of, like, 'What do we want this to be? How do we want this to sound? What are the best parts of us and what are the worst parts of us? Let's do what we will with those things accordingly."

ATREYU's latest single, "Children Of Light", features a guest appearance by former SEPULTURA and current SOULFLY frontman Max Cavalera.

Guitarists Dan Jacobs and Travis Miguel, bassist Porter McKnight, drummer Kyle Rosa and Saller created several of "The End Is Not The End"'s songs on creative trips.

"Tokyo made us feel like kids again," Saller said. "We'd write for a few hours in the morning, then go out and get lost in all this inspiration. The first song we finished was 'Dead', and we knew we were on to something."

After the Japanese sessions, the band and their producer Matt Pauling decamped to San Juan Island off the coast of Washington, where isolation became a creative accelerant.

"It was the polar opposite of Tokyo," Saller explained. "We didn't leave the house for four days and wrote some of the heaviest songs on the record."

"The End Is Not The End" track listing:

01. The End Is Not The End
02. Dead
03. Break Me
04. All For You
05. Ghost In Me
06. Glass Eater
07. Wait My Love, I'll Be Home Soon
08. Ego Death
09. Death Rattle
10. Children Of Light
11. In The Dark
12. Afterglow
13. Break The Glass

ATREYU recently announced a spring tour supporting SEVENDUST, kicking off April 20 in Indianapolis, Indiana and concluding on May 20 in Knoxville, Tennessee .

ATREYU's riffs, hooks, melodies, and relentless energy remain a driving force in heavy music, with over a billion streams worldwide and a fanbase that keeps growing. The Southern California band recently wrapped a triumphant co-headlining U.S. run and tore through massive festivals like Download, Hellfest, Welcome To Rockville and Inkcarceration.

Since forming around the turn of the millennium, ATREYU has pushed well beyond its DIY roots — earning multiple RIAA gold records, Top 20 Billboard 200 debuts, and spots on major film and video-game soundtracks. Their latest album, "The Beautiful Dark Of Life" (2023, Spinefarm),debuted in the Top 10 on Billboard's Top Hard Rock Albums and has already racked up over 75 million streams, with singles like "Gone" and "Watch Me Burn" lighting up rock radio and flagship playlists like Spotify's "Volume" and Apple Music's "The Riff".