EP REVIEW: The Moment You Find Your Flame – Atreyu

Some view inspiration as a kitchen tap that drips until a gush of water comes out. Others view it as a spark. Therefore, it is appropriate that ATREYU would name their new EP, The Moment You Find Your Flame. The metalcore band from California return with their second EP this year. Released just four months after April’s The Hope Of A Spark, this one comprises four tracks and is the perfect companion to their previous EP.

ATREYU hit the ground running with Good Enough, which is a rallying cry of perseverance. The song makes excellent use of gang vocals to emphasise the feeling of community. There are even some moments of synths that show that the band can change gears. But metalcore is the genre they excel at, as shown by this song.

The pacing of the EP is quite fast. However, each song gets enough time to show off its individuality. Whether that is the synth-heavy metalcore of Immortal or the fast-paced Gone, no track sounds rushed or underdeveloped. The production of the EP is fantastic. Each song connects with each other, like how the synths on the opening song are expanded upon in the second song to give the EP some continuity.

The only issue with the EP is with the closer I Don’t Wanna Die. On one hand it is still a very good song, but as more of a soft-rock ballad it throws off the pacing of the EP, and feels like a bit of a tired trope going for a slower song as a closer. It wouldn’t be so bad if the previous songs had built up to it, but it seems to come out of nowhere, making it quite jarring. That said, on its own it is a beautiful song about making the most of life because you never know when your time is up. On any other EP – or even an album – this would have served as an effective closing track, it just feels like a misjudgement to have it here.

Ultimately though, The Moment You Find Your Flame is a smart, slick and fast-paced EP, and it goes without saying that ATREYU are a fantastic metalcore band who really know their genre. The first three songs are fun, happy-go-lucky headbangers that are linked together by brilliant production, and yet stand out on their own as individual songs. It may stumble a little with the closer, but apart from this setback the rest of the EP is a blaze of glory.

Rating: 7/10

The Moment You Find Your Flame is out now via Spinefarm Records.

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