Underoath Band • Page 40

You know that’s not how you spoiler things @teebs41 !

 

Free show at iMatter Fest this year!

@Larry David what are the odds of you driving slightly under two hours for this?

 

First time I've heard of that festival, was not expecting it to be in NY. About 3 hours north west of me.

Hmm.

 

There's a very good chance I'd go to this! Are you going?

 

The full lineups can be hit and miss, but every year they'll snag some bigger names like August Burns Red, The Devil Wears Prada, Emery, Balance and Composure, ect. The event was held at a horse track 2 years ago and it rained so hard the morning of, people were walking around in knee-deep mud. Interested to see the new location this year, can't be any worse haha.

 

I will absolutely be there!
Last year they had I see stars, we came as romans, Hawthorne heights, vanna, balance and composure, and others. Really good lineup for a free show.

 

Let's make this happen when the date arrives! I've (unknowingly) been to so many shows with Chorus users without actually meeting any of your wonderful faces and that's a bummer.

 

It’s less than an hour for me so barring something coming up I stand at the ready!

 

Am I going to revive this thread? I guess so. I was going to post in the Erase Me thread but then my post quickly became less about that album and more about the band overall.

I didn't really give Underoath a solid listen until Lost In the Sound of Separation (could it have been the influence of the pastor's son that I dated in 2008 and I became a youth group kid for a hot 9 months?? maybe..) That album got some time from me and then they kind of faded away from my attention. They were always one of those bands that remained in my periphery but that I didn't turn towards. I heard songs but didn't dedicate myself to albums. I was briefly into The Almost. However, I decided to hop on board the 2018 nostalgia train revival and check out their comeback Erase Me. I bought tickets and am seeing them play in December so now I'm revisiting their discography. I felt like I needed to write out my thoughts as I went through it. I thought I'd share. I'm sure there are many on this site who have loved this band through all of this time, so recognize that these are the ramblings of the most basic UO fan with little listening time on these albums. Opinions are subject to change with repeated listens. :)

Act of Depression, Cries of the Past, The Changing of Time - I had never listened to their early stuff before. What an interesting change from this once Spencer came on board. I could have been into this iteration of Underoath if it had stayed...but I'm mostly glad we got what we got.

They're Only Chasing Safety is exactly the album I wanted in 2004, and still feels like the album I want in 2018 if I want to listen to an album that sounds like it's from 2004 (and not in a "this album is dated" way...does that make sense...?)....this is (still) a fantastic album. I'm not religious, but Some Will Seek Forgiveness, Others Escape is damn powerful.

Define the Great Line feels like they introduced some new elements to what worked on TOCS. More metal influence, still some pop in their step, more ambiance. The album charges forward and breaks at all the right times in my opinion. The songwriting feels more mature.

Lost In the Sound of Separation is fantastic. It starts off big and doesn't let up. It feels anthemic. The lyrics really stand out to me. They read like the story of someone from beginning to end coming to terms with a painful truth. Like the surrender in the end to something, in this case faith. A lot of talk of wanting to be clean and needing help, maybe allusions to Spencer's drug use? I'm not sure when he got clean, but I know that doesn't mean the struggle dissipates. They use ambient noise perfectly in this album, I have to say.

Disambiguation feels heavy. Without Aaron to lighten up some of the sound they really went for a darker, weighted atmosphere. Spencer's vocals are raw and match the density of his lyrics. This is an UO without Aaron and it works. That's not a jab at Aaron, whose influence and contribution to the band gave me the majority of the content I love from them - I just feel like UO is decidedly good at being a continuously better (or at least as good) version of themselves. The heavy bass lines throughout this album are some of my favorite parts about it.

Erase Me - I listened to this album when it first came out and a couple of times after. It didn't capture me immediately. I still don't think it captured me the way some of their other stuff has (especially having spent the day completely immersed in their catalog), but I definitely appreciate it more after giving it another spin. It seems more shallow than previous efforts, but it's not bad - there's just less holding my attention in the way their earlier albums did. It has great production. This is a solid album despite my criticisms. I'm glad Aaron is back and they're active again. I think these songs will be great live. I also think if you took this album outside of the entirety of the UO catalog it would stand better on its own. My opinion of it is definitely worse for having heard it after the rest of their stuff today.

I am actually pretty disappointed that I didn't listen to them on a more regular basis so I could have lived through these album cycles. Having a 2018 perspective probably skews my opinions a bit, but these are some basic thoughts I had today as I went through this. Underoath have an incredible discography. Their music fills space in your head, taking up emotional residence and opening up passageways to move through the music as you listen. Listening to the majority of their discography front to back makes it feel like it all connects together. I know from my research that there was a lot of infighting about this or that iteration of UO, but aside from pre-Spencer UO (which feels dramatically different, although not entirely out of place), the rest all works as a collective (and is just outright better, sorry!). The setlist that I've seen for this tour has some of their best on it and I think a good mix of old and new. I often create a playlist on Spotify of the setlist for a tour and listen through it (weird habit, but I like to know what I'm gonna get at a show) and the setlist for UO's current tour feels like a solid blend of their catalog, spanning the whole journey for them. I can't believe I mostly slept on this band for so long, but count me in from here on out.

[[This post brought to you by a completely unproductive work day!]]

 

Any guesses as to who they’re supporting on this “bucket list” tour Chris keeps teasing on IG?

 

Slipknot

 

Is my guess

 

Mewithoutyou underoath is a dream lineup for me

 

Deftones.

 

Erase Me sucks but I would lose my mind for Underoath/Deftones. Throw Vein on that and you’ve got tour of the decade status

 

Erase Me is great and Deftones with them would be great too

 

I remember Spencer talking about wanting to tour with Deftones.

 

Deftones/Underoath would probably be a summer pavilion tour, right? Not a fan of those venues for that type of show.

 

The last time Deftones stopped by my state they played in a small amphitheater, so probably. I’m not into those settings either and the sound is usually weird

 

I would die for a Deftones/Underoath tour but the venues would probably be total shit lol

 

This was the line up for the UK version of the Rebirth tour in 2016. So good.

 

I'm still amazed at how unpopular the Sleepwave album is. I just spun it and still love it.

 

I listen to it like once a year (mostly bc I forget) but I agree it was way underrated. Always brings a smile to my face when I remember I have it on vinyl and that Spencer signed all of em.

 

Was happy to see Aaron speak out and condemn Ryan Adams, having been a huge advocate for him and his music on social networks.

 

i still never got around to checking out this album. am i missing out on much?