By: Jesse Striewski

Remember when a host of young bands began to emerge in the late ’90s/early ’00s to create an exciting new sub-genre known now as metalcore? Atreyu were one of the leading bands at the forefront of the movement, but unfortunately seemed to lost their way for a minute there (I can barely even remember much from their last release, 2018’s In Our Wake, which I also reviewed at the time for another publication). Thankfully, the band finally seems to be fully back on track again.

And like many, I too had doubts whether an Atreyu without now-former frontman Alex Varkatzas would be worthwhile or not. But Brandon Saller (who was already half of the band’s voice from behind his drum kit) and bassist Marc McKnight have done more than admirable jobs in his place. Any reservations I may have had about the lineup change were quickly dissipated quickly upon first listen of Baptize.

While I wasn’t too blown away by the generic-sounding first track the band released from Baptize as a single, “Save Us” (still probably my least favorite song on the album), its follow ups in the shape of “Warrior” (featuring Blink-182’s Travis Barker), “Underrated,” and the title track, were much more exciting numbers. But like any great album, the true magic is in the deep cuts, which are just as eclectic as ever here. Saller really belts his heart out on more emotionally-driven numbers like “Dead Weight” and “Stay,” while the band is firing on all cylinders on tracks like the Iron Maiden-inspired “Weed,” and the just-for-fun “Fucked Up.”

In all honestly, I was completely expecting to give just another mediocre review here. But I’m glad I approached Baptize with an open mind. It not only had me revisiting much of their older material, but helped to reignite a love for a band I forgot I once had so long ago.

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars