Underoath - Voyeurist (January 14, 2022) Album • Page 31

Into this after one listen, didn't watch the livestream thing so this is my first time hearing any of the songs aside from the first single or two. I'm really into the more atmospheric interludey things like No Oasis and I'm Pretty Sure... being in the tracklist to break up the other songs and provide more of a dynamic album. I've always been more of an Aaron fan, so hearing him so much on this album is working for me

 

This album is pretty cool first listen, sounds like they but the upgrade in sound really gives them a boost.

 

On Thorn right now. Loving this so far.

 

Did a few listens and yeah.. Digital Ghost is for sureeee superior. Don’t get me wrong, this record is good, but damn… some of the energy is just lacking badly by comparison.

Thorn, Take a Breath, and We’re All Gonna Die specially feel a few notches slower. Also, the vocals in the chorus of Thorn sounds muffled and distant?? How does it sound better live??

At this point, I hope they put out Digital Ghost and press it on vinyl too. I’ll stick to that.

 

this album is definitely really cool, love that they experimented but it sounds genuine and inspired. and holy crap, Thorn is amazing!

 

will be listening on my commute tomorrow

 

will be listening as I go to sleep tonight

 

Just listened twice back-to-back, then rewatched certain parts of DG. While I can see how people are hearing some songs hitting harder in DG, I keep remembering *possibly* the only reason DG even exists is so the fans could hear the album earlier. They were really in a bind with being forced to push the release back so digital and physical would count for the same week. I think we're all lucky that both versions exist. If they ever decide to release DG on streaming, it'd be interesting to see which version of each song ends up with higher numbers. The vocals are much clearer in the album, while the instrumentals hit harder on some songs in DG.

Fucking love this album. didn't think I'd get this progression from them again, but they proved me wrong. Bravo fellas

 

The music on this record is fabulous, but man, lyrics like "don't pray for me and my friends. I think you're fucking fake" really makes it hard for me to give Spencer the benefit of the doubt.

Maybe I'm reading it wrong but this defensive stance that Spencer seems to be riding for 5 years now is getting really old and at this point it's only a distraction from the music itself. We get it. He is mad, but there are ways to do this without sounding pretty douchey at the same time.

Anyway, Thorn and Numb are the highlights on the first listen. Quite possibly some of the biggest bangers they've recorded since LITSOS.

 

This is not a happy album.

 

Had my first listen this morning and damn this was worth the wait. Additional harmonies and vocal layering aside, I thought the only songs that sounded a bit different to their Digital Ghost counterparts were Take A Breath and Numb, with We’re All Gonna Die’s intro slightly throwing me off too. For those three, I think they hit harder in the livestream but overall I’m happy to have both versions now. I don’t recall having another album in my library of which I can simply choose to listen to more than one version depending on my mood, and that’s quite a cool concept.

I don’t know if I have anything to add to my initial thoughts from early December. I remain extremely pleased with the album. This is a significant step up over Erase Me, and it somewhat manages to fix my gripes about the latter. The guitars also stand out much more this time and I feel like it’s the most distinct their guitar tone has ever been as well. I’m glad Tim brought back the baritone in full force because it all sounds so heavy and gritty.

 

Yep they recorded Digital Ghost as if they were performing it live, so harmonies that couldn’t be recreated in real time were missing. They enhance the previously unreleased songs so much on the studio album.

 

Thoroughly enjoying both versions. I, too, would enjoy a vinyl pressing of Digital Ghost.

 

The lyrics are definitely the weakest part of the record for the me.

 

Man, I have no idea where to land on this album. Musically and vocally, it’s absolutely incredible. Some of the best work the band has ever done at incorporating the atmospheric/electronic elements. Spencer has always been a more unique vocalist, but his range on this is jaw dropping and excellent.

Lyrically, for the most part, it feels stunted. The cussing on Erase Me worked for me, but it just doesn’t here in most of the songs it’s in. I’ve been thinking about that Wendy’s tweet for the last 24 hours because it finally clicked my feelings on how it all fit together when I’ve been listening (almost nonstop) to Digital Ghost. I don’t care if they do it, just do it well (Hallelujah is the place I think it works best).

I also agree with what @justin. said above about “We’re All Gonna Die.” That’s a lot of animosity towards a huge chunk of their original fanbase and comes off really patronizing/grating. But they’re also bigger than they’ve ever been, so maybe that’s okay with them.

Thorn-(no oasis)-Take A Breath is this album at its absolute peak. Those three show why I’ve always loved this band and have been my most returned to on DG.

Something I was thinking about after my first listen is that now we have a little more context. Underoath will always be linked to Christianity and religion. It’s their past even if they’re moving forward without those labels. Erase Me, lyrically, often comes off like a last desperate prayer for God to listen/speak. Voyeurist comes off as an incredibly angry (not using this as a negative thing, just descriptor) lashing out that nothing was heard/said.

Without being messy/long winded, deconstruction is a highly personal affair that pretty much all Christians I know (self included) have gone through, especially in the last five years. At the end of that process, we’ve all landed fair over the religious map from believer to atheist and everything in between. Lyrically, at times I see myself in the Erase Me portion of this duology. But in Thorn and Numb, I see myself there too. It’s nice seeing such honest lyricism that reflects that journey, even if most of the time it doesn’t reflect mine. I don’t need Underoath to reflect me, but they’ve been a huge part of my journey for the last eighteen years so I know I’ll always think about their lyrical storytelling more than I would with most artists. There’s a reason they’re my favorite band.

But to go back to the music, the Hallelujah chorus has been stuck in my head for a week. I wish the digital Ghost version of “this is fucking hell” at the bridge was the album version—it’s way more powerful in delivery.

I will be listening to this a lot, I can already tell.

 

Only at Thorns but it's crazy how much better this is than Erase Me. It does feel busy from a production standpoint, the drums and guitars are drowning out the vocals at times.

 

Wait, was that a weird time signature in the chorus of Take A Breath?? Are they djenting in a good way??

 

I've liked the mode this band has been in for both Erase Me and this. They feel like two sides of the same coin, and it all suits them very well. I've only ever been a fan of Safety, so it's cool to me to be getting into this latter half of their career.

 

Musically I love this album, but I agree with Garrett that the cussing is a bit excessive. I'm fine with it if it serves an actual purpose, but a lot of the time on here it comes across as trying to be edgy for the sake of being edgy. It's not to the point where it ruins any of the songs for me and I actually do like most of the lyrics, but there are definitely instances where I feel like it was unnecessary. That's really the only gripe I have with the album, though. It has a great mix of LITSOS/Disambiguation vibes, enough elements of Erase Me to satisfy people who may have jumped on with that album, and newer sounds.

 

This album rules

 

I really love that little pause at the end of Take A Breath

 

Definitely taking the sound and what they were doing with Erase Me to the next level. A ton of experimenting with atmosphere on this record. The last track is very cool and has an almost “prog” feel to it.

 

Just listened to this record twice in a row and I think it's my least favorite from them

Hope it ends up clicking more for me.

 

I'd so love a properly released audio version of Digital Ghosts.

 

Liked this at first listen. Debating about grabbing the vinyl on my Target trip later, something I never thought I tell myself in 2022.