It's officially official, as official can be. Atreyu no longer has vocalist Alex Varkatzas among their ranks. But wait, is this a re-post?, you might ask. No, it's not a repost, because the band never officially commented on the matter until today.
The band wrote on social media today "“We have been a band for over 20 years now. Lived our dreams together as friends and as brothers. We traveled the world doing what we love, and have been fortunate enough to play music for such an incredible fan base that provides us with the opportunity to share our greatest moments with them.
"Now a time of change has come for all of us. Alex Varkatzas is sailing off on a ship of his own, and will part ways with Atreyu. He will not disappear, and neither will Atreyu. There’s nothing but love and respect for each other, and we can’t wait to see what he will come up with next. Stay tuned for his upcoming projects and we all wish him success and fulfillment with all his future endeavors.
"Atreyu’s next adventure is among us.
"We love you, we’ll see you shortly.”
Varkatzas put out his own statement, offering basically the same message: “After 20 rewarding years of creating music with Atreyu, the band and I are parting ways. I am forever thankful for the memories, experiences, and friendships made along the way. Thank you to all of the friends and fans. I have lots of new music and art to share with you in the future. With love and respect.”
Last month, speculation began that Varkatzas was leaving after a cryptic social media message in an announcement about the first of his daughter. In the post, he wrote “Life has ruthlessly been taking from me lately. 2019thru2020 has done its best to destroy me. Testing me to my mental limits. The horrible, fake people and things that have exited my life this year have been replaced by something so pure and sweet. It feels like a new start.”
This led to fans speculating that perhaps he was leaving. Varkatzas then posted a new update on Instagram, sharing a screenshots of lyrics to the Stone Temple Pilots song "Trippin' On A Hole In A Paper Heart" and offered the caption “I’m not dead and I’m not for sale.” He also included the hashtags #fakenews and #fakenarrative.
Then, he offered another quick video where he says "So the baby's here. I'm pumped up. I got so much creative energy, I just need an outlet. I'm thinking of starting a super heavy band, some sick Swedish riffs, some super heavy breakdowns and some screaming from yours truly. What do you think about that? Comment below." The caption for the video read “I’m thinking of starting a super heavy band… I need to shred bro. I’m thinking Blood Has Been Shed, meets a little In Flames, with a bit of the old Lamb of freaking God thrown in on top.”
So, it looks like there was no #fakenews, but Alex seems to be interested in remaining active with making music.
