Alex Varkatzas (born January 17, 1982) is an American musician, best known as the former lead vocalist of

metalcore Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use ...

band

Atreyu Atreyu is an American metalcore band from Yorba Linda, California, formed in 1998. The band currently consists of clean vocalist Brandon Saller, guitarists Dan Jacobs and Travis Miguel, bassist and unclean vocalist Marc "Porter" McKnight, and ...

from its inception in 1998 until his departure from the band in 2020. In 2011, during the band's hiatus, Varkatzas also started a hardcore project with

Bleeding Through Bleeding Through is an American metalcore band from Orange County, California, formed in 1999. In 2004, ''Revolver'' magazine hailed Bleeding Through as one of eight bands ushering in the "Future of Metal" cover story, and '' Spin'' called Blee ...

vocalist

Brandan Schieppati Brandan Schieppati (born August 3, 1980) is an American musician. He is the singer of metalcore band Bleeding Through and a former guitarist/songwriter of the fellow Orange County metalcore band Eighteen Visions, for which he played from 1997 ...

named I Am War.

Atreyu

At 14, Varkatzas, along with guitarist Dan Jacobs and drummer

Brandon Saller Brandon Kyle Saller (born June 24, 1983) is an American musician, singer and multi-instrumentalist. He is the lead vocalist, keyboardist and former drummer of the metalcore band Atreyu. He is responsible for the melodic singing found in the b ...

, formed a

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band called Retribution. By 1998, when Varkatzas was 16, Retribution developed a heavier style and changed names to Atreyu, as seen on their 1998 independent release, '' Visions''. After their 2001 EP, ''

Fractures in the Facade of Your Porcelain Beauty ''Fractures in the Facade of Your Porcelain Beauty'' is the second EP by American metalcore band Atreyu. It was originally released on November 20, 2001, and released again on January 29, 2002, under the independent label Tribunal Records. The E ...

'', fell into the hands of

Victory Records Victory Records is a Chicago-based record label founded by Tony Brummel. It operates a music publishing company called "Another Victory, Inc." and is the distributor of several record labels. It has featured many prominent artists including Thur ...

, the band signed to Victory and released their debut album, ''

Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses ''Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses'' is the debut studio album by American metalcore band Atreyu. It was released on June 4, 2002, under Victory Records. The album featured re-worked versions of the songs "Living Each Day Like You're Already De ...

'' in 2002. Since then, the band has released four other albums before embarking on hiatus,: '' The Curse'' in 2004, '' A Death-Grip on Yesterday'' in 2006, '' Lead Sails Paper Anchor'' in 2007, and ''

Congregation of the Damned ''Congregation of the Damned'' is the fifth studio album by American metalcore band Atreyu. It was released through Hollywood Records and Roadrunner Records on October 27, 2009. The album debuted at No. 18 on the ''Billboard'' 200, selling 26,00 ...

'' in 2009. After ten years of worldwide success, the band went on hiatus. On July 1, 2014, the band officially announced their return from hiatus by playing several festivals including

Aftershock In seismology, an aftershock is a smaller earthquake that follows a larger earthquake, in the same area of the main shock, caused as the displaced crust adjusts to the effects of the main shock. Large earthquakes can have hundreds to thousa ...

and Slipknot's Knotfest. A new single was released on their official YouTube channel titled "So Others May Live" and plans for a new album titled "Long Live". Long Live was released on September 18, 2015. Furthermore, a second album called "In Our Wake" was released on October 12, 2018. 3 singles have been released so far including a music Video for the song In our wake. Another single, “Super Hero” was written by the band, along with

Aaron Gillespie Aaron Roderick Gillespie (born July 18, 1983) is an American musician, best known for being the original and current drummer and clean vocalist for the metalcore band Underoath and the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the alternative rock ...

Underoath Underoath (stylized as Underøath or UnderOath) is an American rock band from Tampa, Florida. It was founded by lead vocalist Dallas Taylor and guitarist Luke Morton on November 30, 1997, in Ocala, Florida; subsequently, its additional membe ...

and M. Shadows of

Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold (abbreviated as A7X) is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Zacky Vengeance, ...

providing guest vocals in the verses. On August 22, 2020, news began circulating that Varkatzas had parted ways with Atreyu; however, the singer himself later confirmed that it was just a rumor. However, on September 30, 2020, Varkatzas and Atreyu both released statements confirming his departure.

I Am War

After Atreyu went on a hiatus in 2011, Varkatzas started a hardcore project named I Am War with

. The band released an album entitled ''Outlive You All'' in 2012.

Dead Icarus

In June 2021, Varkatzas announced the name of his new band, Dead Icarus.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Varkatzas, Alex 1982 births Living people American rock singers American people of Greek descent Musicians from Orange County, California Singers from California Atreyu (band) members 21st-century American singers 21st-century American male singers