ATREYU: 'We Do Not Feel The Need To Drag Anyone's Name Through The Mud'

Orange County, California's ATREYU has issued a statement commenting on the recent removal of support act FROM FIRST TO LAST from the group's headlining tour.

In a posting on its MySpace page, FROM FIRST TO LAST stated about the trek, "We did everything possible to stay on this tour. Sonny [Moore, vocals] would not have been able to sing due to a tear in his vocal cord, but would have been onstage playing guitar while Craig, of CHIODOS, would handle singing duties for the remainder of the tour. Our plan to enable us to play the rest of the tour was disregarded and as our crew was setting up for the show in Worcester, MA we were informed that we were being kicked off the tour. Understand that it was not our choice to leave this tour... we were forced to leave."

ATREYU responded with the following statement:

"To address the FROM FIRST TO LAST issue: We are adults and do not feel the need to drag anyone's name through the mud. We wish Sonny a speedy recovery and hope his voice is not permentaly damaged.

"As for those of you who think you know 'the story' because 'so and so told you about it,' you dont know shit and need to get over it. They couldn't perform as FROM FIRST TO LAST and are no longer on this tour. End of story.

"Some food for thought before you start blaming good ol' ATREYU: A very similiar thing happend to this same band on the Warped Tour. Hmm. Weird. Coincidence? Lighting striking twice? There are two sides to every story. We have ours, they have theirs. All we know is that Sonny has been hanging out at some of the shows, so it would appear he has no hard feelings."

ATREYU recently parted ways with Victory Records and inked a new deal with the Hollywood label.

Commented ATREYU frontman Alex Varkatzas: "As a group of friends playing music, our main goal is to grow and spread our brand of metallic rock around the world. We try to progress and grow on each album we record. We feel that Hollywood Records is the perfect place to continue to grow while maintaining our freedom to do whatever the hell we want with our songs. We look forward to our future with Hollywood. They have shown a real interest in us for quite a while. To put it simply, they are down for us and we are down for them."

ATREYU's third album, "A Death-Grip On Yesterday", has sold more than 210,000 copies since its late March release.

The CD follows up the group's 2002 release, "The Curse".