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Schmengie
Metalhead

Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2012 12:14 am
Posts: 517
Location: United States
PostPosted: Thu Feb 22, 2018 6:58 pm 
 


New album, Erase Me, dropping 6 April. See video description for purchase links and all of that noise.
Image
1. It Has To Start Somewhere
2. Rapture
3. On My Teeth
4. Wake Me
5. Bloodlust
6. Sink With You
7. Ihateit
8. Hold Your Breath
9. No Frame
10. In Motion
11. I Gave Up

I'm liking it. Gillespie is keeping off the mic and staying behind the kit where he belongs.
They're definitely not a Christian band any more. Might be going the Lambesis route--hopefully, with less hit jobs.
Future looks relatively bright. Was apprehensive when they reformed, since Ø (Disambiguation) was pretty damned good and seemed like a fitting stopping point.

Won't turn back anybody who's already despised this band for years, though.

Take it away, MA.
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ThePoop wrote:
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I believe it was Confucius who said "Life is merely a series of intervals in which one waits for the next Agalloch album."


Last edited by Schmengie on Fri Feb 23, 2018 4:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
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~Guest 417309
Metal newbie

Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2017 3:30 am
Posts: 373
PostPosted: Thu Feb 22, 2018 7:24 pm 
 

The fact that this band is on the archives and Tool isn't is fucking HILARIOUS to me.

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praey
Metalhead

Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 1:33 am
Posts: 925
Location: United States
PostPosted: Thu Feb 22, 2018 7:41 pm 
 

Not gonna lie, I'm kind of looking forward to this. Underoath has always been a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine, probably due to discovering them just as they were getting big. For all the shit they used to get, there were always much worse metalcore bands out there. New song sounds good but is a bit formulaic, though I guess that's not entirely surprising given it's the first single.

And to the guy above questioning why they're on the archives, their second album actually has a surprisingly huge black metal influence. It doesn't even sound like the same band.

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alexo666
Metalhead

Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2008 5:53 am
Posts: 494
Location: United States of America
PostPosted: Thu Feb 22, 2018 7:56 pm 
 

nekrosonic wrote:
The fact that this band is on the archives and Tool isn't is fucking HILARIOUS to me.


or BTBAM.
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Rosner
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed May 26, 2010 7:12 pm
Posts: 201
Location: Argentina
PostPosted: Thu Feb 22, 2018 11:36 pm 
 

Really happy for them to be back! I thought this was going to be just a quick reunion with a couple of live shows, but it seems they are back in full!

I liked the new song a lot: seems like a natural progression from Ø (Disambiguation), with all the electronic elements and the darker/non-religious approach. The only thing this song lacks is the heavy riffing: hope the sludge/post-metal influence they had on that album is still present here.

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jimbies
Noose Springsteen

Joined: Thu Jul 21, 2016 2:52 pm
Posts: 4145
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Thu Feb 22, 2018 11:40 pm 
 

Until this thread, I had NO IDEA they were on the Archives. The only record I've ever heard is "Define The Great Line", which as I can see via the reviews, is not the best reviewed on here, but seems more in line with what they actually sound like.

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Lythronax
Metal newbie

Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2015 8:54 pm
Posts: 83
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Fri Feb 23, 2018 12:02 am 
 

Schmengie wrote:
They're definitely not a Christian band any more.


Aww, and I was just thinking about how funny it was to see a Christian band right beside Emperor on the Heavy Montreal poster.

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OzzyApu
Metal freak

Joined: Fri Oct 13, 2006 12:11 am
Posts: 10821
Location: Seattle
PostPosted: Fri Feb 23, 2018 12:10 am 
 

I knew these guys reformed but thought it was just for touring purposes. Ø (Disambiguation) was a sign of things to come before the band ended. A great sign, in fact. Then they released a couple songs on a compilation and I didn't think much of them.

New song is pretty good. Glad Chamberlain is still defacto leader despite Gillespie back in the band. I want more of that jarring, post-hardcore going post-metal sound from Ø (Disambiguation). It gave us a taste!
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Yesterday was the birthday of school pal and I met the chick of my sigh (I've talked about here before, the she-wolf I use to be inlove with)... Maaan she was using a mini-skirt too damn insane... Dude you could saw her entire soul every time she sit...

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Schmengie
Metalhead

Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2012 12:14 am
Posts: 517
Location: United States
PostPosted: Fri Feb 23, 2018 4:11 am 
 

I've listened to the song a few times and while it's misleading and unwise to speculate on the new direction of a band based on one track, the thing does sound like a logical progression from Ø (Disambiguation) and Farewell. Underoath have been an aggressive post-rock/metal-influenced post-hardcore hallmark for me since Define the Great Line. They're not unique in that regard--Amia Venera Landscape were the veritable pinnacle of this before they dropped off the face of the earth, and Fall of Minerva and Norma Jean have been doing something similar concurrently for the past few years--but they might well be the earliest band to really play with this synthesis and make it work. Really putting the post-hardcore in to post-metal, if you will.

One thing that is very new--in this song, at least--is how drum-driven it is. I don't think Gillespie has ever sounded this good behind the kit. Combined with Dudley's scant-as-usual synth touch, the tempo he sets really gets your blood flowing.

Also, I've updated the OP with cover art, title, track listing, and the correct release date. I always liked Underoath's covers. This one, along with their departure from Solid State/Tooth & Nail Records, lends further credence to their de-Christianisation. Also, no band logo. Interesting choice.
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ThePoop wrote:
(snip)

I believe it was Confucius who said "Life is merely a series of intervals in which one waits for the next Agalloch album."

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Goatfangs
58.2% Metal

Joined: Tue Mar 18, 2008 5:02 pm
Posts: 2804
Location: United States
PostPosted: Sat Feb 24, 2018 10:10 pm 
 

I remember the day they were allowed in the Archives. Their first two albums were much more metal than their later ones, the second one in particular being pretty well done as well. They were almost forgotten albums compared to what made them widely known.

Ø (Disambiguation) kicks ass, and their cleansing themselves of the Christian label had balls and showed a lot of integrity.
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And they'll tell you black is really white - The moon is just the sun at night - And when you walk in golden halls - You get to keep the gold that falls - It's Heaven and Hell

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Schmengie
Metalhead

Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2012 12:14 am
Posts: 517
Location: United States
PostPosted: Tue Mar 20, 2018 6:51 pm 
 

They dropped another track.

Definitely not as good as the last one. Basically an alternative rock song. As those go, it's decent, but Underoath are at their best when they're sludgey and aggressive.

Also, we can confirm with this that Gillespie is, indeed, singing on this record. Age has done well for him, though; he doesn't sound nearly as boyish. Actually, he doesn't sound too dissimilar to Chamberlain, here.

Track might grow on me, but I think this one is obviously their lead radio single.
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ThePoop wrote:
(snip)

I believe it was Confucius who said "Life is merely a series of intervals in which one waits for the next Agalloch album."

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OzzyApu
Metal freak

Joined: Fri Oct 13, 2006 12:11 am
Posts: 10821
Location: Seattle
PostPosted: Fri Mar 23, 2018 12:36 pm 
 

Gotta say I didn't enjoy that song the first time I heard it. Second time I still think it's not that good. Too vocal-focused and doesn't do have that great of vocal lines to begin with.
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gomorro wrote:
Yesterday was the birthday of school pal and I met the chick of my sigh (I've talked about here before, the she-wolf I use to be inlove with)... Maaan she was using a mini-skirt too damn insane... Dude you could saw her entire soul every time she sit...

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Rosner
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed May 26, 2010 7:12 pm
Posts: 201
Location: Argentina
PostPosted: Mon Apr 02, 2018 7:10 pm 
 

Album is leaked... After listening to it for the first time, it's really disappointing! Almost all of the sludge and post-metal elements from Ø (Disambiguation) are gone in favour of a more alt-rock approach. I didn't want to agree with all the people calling it 'the new Sleepwave album', but to be honest, it sounds closer to Spencer's sideproject than to Underoath. Also, the guitars are buried within the mix and don't have the prominence they used to. There are a couple of great riffs and some cool songs that are closer to Ø (Disambiguation), but the album as a whole is underwhelming...

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OzzyApu
Metal freak

Joined: Fri Oct 13, 2006 12:11 am
Posts: 10821
Location: Seattle
PostPosted: Tue Apr 03, 2018 2:16 pm 
 

I listened to it yesterday. After 5 years of me going full on into metalcore / alternative / post-hardcore listening (something that Ø (Disambiguation) helped me do), I'm disappointed. All these years of appreciating lots in the genre and on first listen I only liked 4 songs: the opener, "On My Teeth", "Bloodlust", and "I Gave Up". The rest was not good. I don't feel like this is going to grow on me that much since the compositions themselves feel very iffy even for alternative rock. Even the good songs wouldn't crack top 10 for them.

This reminds me of the band Imminence (Swe) whose first album was heavily core/hardcore then went alternative rock for the second album. Bad alternative rock.
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gomorro wrote:
Yesterday was the birthday of school pal and I met the chick of my sigh (I've talked about here before, the she-wolf I use to be inlove with)... Maaan she was using a mini-skirt too damn insane... Dude you could saw her entire soul every time she sit...

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Schmengie
Metalhead

Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2012 12:14 am
Posts: 517
Location: United States
PostPosted: Fri Apr 06, 2018 6:33 pm 
 

It's streaming in full on YouTube.

As much as I hate to admit it, I have to agree: I'm a tad disappointed. Underoath have largely delved in to a more alternative rock/metal side of themselves, here. Outside of "On My Teeth", this is a far cry from Ø (Disambiguation). There's some hardcore punk aggression here ("Hold Your Breath"), a hint of post-rock/metal atmosphere there ("ihateit"), some sludgy distortion elsewhere ("Sink With You"), but those elements are so scant and subdued that I can't really make an argument for their presence or appreciation. Crowd-like chants are back on a few passages, this being something for which I never cared in prior works and didn't miss on Ø.

To address the elephant in the room, Gillespie sounds better as a vocalist than he ever has before: His boyishness of yore is all but gone, and it's probably because he leaves most of the high, soaring passages to Chamberlain and sticks with lower, quieter fare. Generally speaking, Erase Me doesn't repeat the worst parts of prior albums. On the other hand, it doesn't top or even meet the best parts of said albums either: There is no "Casting Such a Thin Shadow", no "Emergency Broadcast: the End Is Near", and no "Who Will Guard the Guardians" here. It isn't without its experiments: I think "No Frame" is the most interesting song on the album (if not quite the best), what with its brooding build-up to a dirty, yet tasteful electronic rock crescendo. We've already talked about "On My Teeth". "Rapture" has grown on me a bit with subsequent listens due to its catchiness, and I can see why it's the album's lead single. "Hold Your Breath" has a neatly aggressive punk beginning that unfortunately gives way to a pretty underwhelming chorus. On the whole, the album is better in its second half than its first.

Ultimately, though, this is not even a metalcore record, and is only just barely post-hardcore, which means that it must rely chiefly on its strength in the alternative spectrum, and that is a losing battle. It doesn't exhibit the moody nuance of late Katatonia or Ghost Brigade's IV - One With the Storm, lacks the experimental feel of the Deftones, and I would even say that it falls somewhat short of 10 Years' From Birth to Burial, since even that record, as relatively mainstream as it is, saw said band toying with a more melancholy approach. This in mind, Underoath's Erase Me doesn't really hit any sweet spot for me.

Make no mistake: I don't think it's bad. I would suggest that it's okay—maybe even good for what it is. It wasn't a waste of my time and it could grow on me. It's just not what I wanted to hear from Underoath.
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ThePoop wrote:
(snip)

I believe it was Confucius who said "Life is merely a series of intervals in which one waits for the next Agalloch album."

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~Guest 343918
Metalhead

Joined: Tue Sep 23, 2014 12:23 pm
Posts: 404
PostPosted: Sat Apr 07, 2018 6:11 am 
 

Schmengie wrote:
They're definitely not a Christian band any more.

My bet is that they are just being open about never having been a real Christian band to begin with. You can probably blame Faith+1 for it but I have severe problems taking Christian rock bands seriously. One could argue that faking Satanism, which happens as often if not even more often in black metal, is as lame as faking Christianity but I'd say there is less contrast between facts and fiction in the former than in the latter.

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