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Reviews

DAVID BEE ROTH BEGRUDGINGLY ADMITS: THE NEW UNDEROATH ALBUM IS PRETTY GOOD

Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008 at 2:33pm by

I will be the first to admit that Underoath are a band that were judged by closed-minded, ultra-critical, pretentious metal heads like myself long before I even heard one note being played. Instead I heard “Christian” and “emo” and got a brief glimpse of their fan base. That was all I needed to declare “I probably wouldn’t like them” and move on, sifting through the heavy music morass for something else, never to give them a second thought until my very recent exposure to their newest record Lost in the Sound of Separation.

Surprise! Being instantly judgmental of a band’s hair style and personal beliefs has once again set me up to be disappointed when I can’t spend a whole page lampooning their art. Instead I am forced to begrudgingly admit that this is something of quality.

I was rather convinced that the majority of post-hardcore music had devolved into bands copying successful bands and then self-replicating ad nauseam like so many scenes and flash-in-the-pan sub-genres, but Underoath have a healthy enthusiasm for bands that pre-empted all of it. As I listen to Sound of Separation, I’m pleasantly surprised by how often I’m reminded of Refused and the last At the Drive-in record. At key points Underoath reveal both a progressive shade in the development of some songs and a more traditional, hard line approach.

In fact, perhaps the strongest feature of this album is the variety in moods and tones that we are subjected to. Two of the best tracks on the album, “A Fault Line A Fault of Mine” and “The End is Near,” both break into post-rock sounding interludes that gradually build to a chaotic climax. I was reminded of a less-patient Cult of Luna or Mogwai more than a few times. “Too Bright to See Too Loud to Hear” is easily the most melodic song on the album but you’ll be allured by the comforting unison vocals and the sounds of clapping hands. Underoath demonstrate that they have put way more thought into their song-craft than my initial dismissal could ever have given them credit for.

The vocal duties are divided between Spencer Chamberlain’s high-strung growls and drummer Aaron Gillespie’s Cedric Bixler impersonation. Neither one tries to oversell his parts, which removes the thick scum of melodrama that makes so many of their peers’ work un-listenable. There’s also no gratuitous use of autotune or other studio magic, which is surprising considering what a slickly produced album this is. Often times you will hear individual instrument tracks pan to different sides of your headphones, volume adjustments from the beginning of the song and other small, but extremely noticeable, bits of Pro-Tools tinkering. While I’ll always be a purist for raw sounds, this style of production is appropriate for Underoath as it makes their sound larger than life, like this CD alone could fill up a stadium if you played it.

Any further picking into this album’s faults would be criticisms you could level at any number of other modern metal release: the middle of the album lost my interest, the aggressive sections aren’t as interesting as the melodic ones, and the Christian imagery and symbolism is transparent. Rather than dispense any punishment upon these fine, upstanding lads for this mature, impressive work, perhaps I’ll play the savior today and take some punishment upon myself:

Everyone, I listened to the new Underoath album and I liked it. Metal, do not forsake me!

(3.5 out of 5 Stars)

-DBR

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  • http://www.myspace.com/grownfromthecold Luke

    Haven’t heard this one yet, but I’ve been told it’s pretty good. I actually was kinda into them awhile ago, when the genre wasn’t too stale, and I always thought they stuck out from the typical metalcore (or whatever you wanna call it) crowd. The last record was pretty aggressive, it was kinda cool, but ultimately a little boring. I like guitar solos, and they don’t have any. Haha. I’ll give this a listen today.

  • Kye

    Still one of my favorite bands ever. This cd is pretty damn good I think.

    As for the prejudgment that the metal community seems to give them, listen to Cries of the Past. It’s by far their best cd and lacks almost any post-hardcore influence the band would come to experiment with later.

  • Gabexmosh

    Does it reflect badly on me that I actually like “They’re Only Chasing Safety” (their most “emo” release) the best? Hate them all you want, but those guys knew how to make a good chorus.

  • Tyler

    i havent listened to the whole record but when they were streaming the record on their myspace i listened to a few tracks and i liked it. it is heavier at tiems but it still keeps it chatching-ness that i like in underoath. i give them props!

  • The Metal Nerd

    Here we are again, and i really dont care. Back to The Deciblog I go. Youll never catch myself or anyone else there discussing CHIRTIAN MUSIC. Other than to laugh at all Warped Tour patrons who decided Bible Studys at PUNK ROCK shows were acceptable and dare I say, cool. Sad.

  • tmack

    there will never be another christian metal band that sucks less than living sacrifice and that is all that christian bands can ever aspire to is sucking only a little… well except for stryper cause they fuckin rock for the jesus

  • tmack

    oh and petra cause them hippochristians were the first to make the jesus rock out with his cock out

  • iwrestledaferretonce

    OK Metal Nerd, go back to that other site. Why can’t Christian metal coexist with the other subgenres?
    When someone says “Christian Metal,” everyone thinks of Stryper. Yeah they blew the biggest chunks, what about August Burns Red, As I lay Dying, Haste the Day, Devil Wears Prada? If you didn’t read the lyrics, then you’d have no idea they were Christian bands. I’m the farthest thing from religious or holy, but those bands make good music. Some are more “preachy” than others, but they basically all play hard music and don’t try to convince you that you are wrong for popping in that Cannibal Corpse or Black Dahlia Murder disc in between Dear Love: A Beautiful Discord and Shadows are Security.

  • bill

    you guys like everything

  • http://www.myspace.com/grownfromthecold Luke

    So I listened to the record like I said I would. The expirimental parts are really cool, but the heavy stuff is soooo boring. It all just sounds the same, it’s got no direction at all. They’ve got the aggressive sound down, don’t get me wrong, but they need some cohesive songwriting to make it work.

  • http://myspace.com/biosyn teaches_of_peaches

    iwrestledaferretonce: You just came out of the closet there, didn’t you? Most of the bands you mentioned are the epitome of derivative.

    As for Underoath, I’ve always had respect for them simply because they started out as slightly-blackened deathcore/metalcore (and that was back in the day when Limp Bizkit was king and Creed was the face of christian music) and even when they went mainstream, their songwriting style became interesting enough not to pigeonhole them with most of their peers.

  • iwrestledaferretonce

    Peaches: i try not to dismiss a band based on their “creed.” Metal has been my main focus for many years, and most of it’s subgenres appeal to me. if i can two-step to it, and enjoy myself when i go to see bands and one of those “christian bands” are on the bill, then why not give them a chance? As I lay Dying and Haste the Day are definitely NOT groundbreaking, and they’ll probably never win many accolades for their (at least partial) rehashes, but I have a good time checking them out.

    I never said the aforementioned bands made GREAT music, but they are representative of today’s metal. And i was only trying to bring to light that some of those bands that people may be interested in don’t sound Christian, but they may just be thanking Jesus in the liner notes.

  • smasherdevourerr

    it’s impossible for ANY underoath album to ever live up to their first two, ‘Acts of Depression’ and ‘Cries of the Past’, which are sadly out of print now. Those are STILL two of my favorite albums of all time. The title ‘Christian’ has no effect on me, the same as ‘Satanic’ has no effect on me. Good music is good music. If you won’t give a band a chance just because they sing about Christian things, then you are just as hypocritical as the Christians themselves. This is coming from a kid that constantly listens to Immortal, Mayhem, Emperor, Gorgoroth, and various other satanic bands. Also, to say that Living Sacrifice was the ‘peak’ of Christian metal is a very close minded opinion. What about Extol’s ‘Undeceived’ album? Rediculously talented prog-death band that almost no one gave a chance because they were a ‘christian’ band. For as close minded as the christian community is of things that are different from them, sometimes I think the metal community might be worse… but then again, the music we listen to is superior than everyone else’s so we have good reason, hahahaah.

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  • rob

    I need to listen to this.. i only have really not enjoyed their last two; but that’s because the last two have been bland as fuck.

  • http://www.myspace.com/unholy2 Zack

    God, Jesus, Satan, Buddha, whatever. Music is music, and if something is good, I’ll listen to it. People saying stuff like ‘I won’t listen to Christian metal!’ are just as dumb as people who wouldn’t listen to Manson because of his themes, or Slayer because they are ‘satanic’.

    Everyone, this is an intervention. Its OK to like music.

  • Neill Raper

    Zack: Come on, seriously? Slayer is not actually satanic. If they actually meant every word in Altar of Sacrifice I might rethink being a fan of theirs. Underoath actually BELIEVE the crap they sing about. I think of this in the same way as you might think of a band you like making a concept album about how fairies exist and we should all make magical stone circles in our backyards, but if we don’t we might just go to hell.

  • http://www.myspace.com/unholy2 Zack

    @Neill: I know Slayer isn’t really satanic, hence the ” around it. Sorry if that didn’t come through.

    And honestly, my point stands that I don’t listen to a band because of what a band believes, but for what music they make. To each their own though.

  • http://www.myspace.com ….?

    It’s fucking retarded how you guys go so far to describe, a whatever the fuck you think of style of music. slightly-blackened deathcore/metalcore what the fuck is that?

    Instead of trying to categorize music, listen to it for what it is. Personally, wow, I hate underoath, and they sound freaking generic to me, not to mention look generic as fuck.

    I know it’s not right to judge a band how they look, but seriously, pull your hair out of your eyes, stop buying girl pants, and the makeup, is semi acceptable, but still faggy(King Diamond had make-up…).

  • CJ

    Good record.

  • Claire

    Every album that Underoath has released since Spencer Chamberlain joined has been solid. If you are just getting into Underoath you should really listen to the past albums; all of them are beautifully crafted with some of the most profound lyrics I’ve ever heard. True, there are several other amazing bands out there, but Underoath is definitely the cream. LITSOS is truly a masterpiece though, and if you can’t hear that, then maybe you should get your ears checkout ^__^-Claire

    Oh and wtf, none of the guys in Underoath wear makeup or girl pants you fucking douch! Shows how much you really know about them! You are the retarded one laaaame!

  • Morningstar

    Except Spence does wear girl jeans since he doesn’t fit into anything else.

    Genre elitism is a big problem anywhere you look, but personally, I got started into heavy music listening to They’re Only Chasing Safety, but LITSOS blew me away when I first heard it. It isn’t an album per se, but a story broken down into 11 tracks, and it’s like nothing reocrded so far. Unorthodox only begins to describe how Underoath have done this album, and Spencer isn’t writing about God so much this time as his own struggle with cocaine addiction. For you people who can only listen to metal with blasphemy in it, listen to “The Only survivor was miraculously unharmed” and when you look at the lyrics, see it’s a critique of the Christian RELIGION and the system they believe in.

    Any band should be proud of making an album this different and raw. Seriously though, music is music, and if someone tells me that this band I happen to like sucks donkey kong, so be it. A man forced to change his decision is still of his own opinion.