Search - Underoath :: Define the Great Line

Thankfully, these guys still know how to make a good record.

Adam P. Newton | Houston, TX | 03/05/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Here's this - I know that I shouldn't even be listening to this group, since I'm about 7 to 10 years too old and about 75 pounds over the necessary weight required to wear the appropriate uniform that most (if not all) hardcore kids have been wearing for the past couple of years. (It's been a decade since I could fit into 32-waist jeans and a size Medium t-shirt.) Coupled with that sad admission is the one that, whenever I even think about going to any kind of local rock show in my area (whether in Houston itself or in the general north of the city), I have to remind myself how old & out-of-place I'll look amongst all the kids in the crowd. Yes, I do realize that 15- to 18-year-olds really aren't kids, but when you're a decade or more older than a vast majority of the crowd going to see a hardcore show, you feel quite creepy standing next to kids who weigh half of what you do. I guess I should learn to be content with attending indie rock & folk shows - my age & my ears are getting to me.



And, on an even more level than personal style issues and the inability to earn points as a good scenester, I start listening to Underoath's new album, Define the Great Line, and began to fear that I've become "that guy." Any music aficionado of any real substance knows exactly the guy I'm talking about (Rob, Dick, & Barry make merciless fun of one of these guys in High Fidelity, both book & movie versions). He's the older and intelligent, yet subtly mocked, geezer who constantly says things like, "Oh, I used to listen to them back when they were [insert band's previous style here]," or "Oh, I like their old stuff better." This is the guy who can quote track lists, contributors, and influences for great records across many styles, but his pool of information is dated by about 5 to 10 years, at a minimum. You enjoy talking to him, since he's always enthusiastic and knowledgeable about music, but it can be almost sad to talk to him because he's stuck in the past that he's created for himself. His ears simply reached the point where they couldn't absorb anything new, whether new in style or interpretation of an old style.



Nonetheless, I say all of that to say this - I was first exposed to Underoath's music with their Cries of the Past EP that came out 6 years ago, full of many nods and bows to black/European metal. However, I cringed a bit when The Changing of Times was released in 2002, revealing that the band had left the gates of metal and entered the quickly-expanding subdivision that was becoming "screamo/hardcore." However, after growing to like the new direction the band undertook with TCoT, I was definitely not a fan of the clean & slickly-produced "pop-core" of 2004's They're Only Chasing Safety. I stood adamantly upon this opinion, even though it began to appear that legions of fans everywhere were collecting themselves around the house that is Underoath. And the band itself didn't make my distaste with their current work any easier, for after two years of constant touring and three straight appearances as a main-stage act on the Vans Warped Tour, the guys of Underoath have certainly secured themselves a spot in the mainstream rock pantheon.



Case in point - with the release of their newest album, Define the Great Line, on June 20th, this Florida-based band sold 98,000 records in the first week, earning them a #2 ranking on the Billboard charts, behind only Nelly Furtado's latest, and pushing the Dixie Chicks down a spot. That, my dear readers, is notoriety and market value of the highest level ("Under Who?" asks the average pop/R&B radio listener). It's one thing to mock the buying habits of the average teen and 18-25 demographic, but it's quite another thing to realize that those buying habits are the ones that have catapulted an overtly Christian rock band into the ears and eyes of hard music listeners around the nation.



Because, you see, this is a screamo/hardcore album that many people should be listening to, and for good reason, as the band seems to have eschewed all of the poppy & melodic tendencies that plagued They're Only Chasing Safety. Suffice to say folks, the talent level present on Define the Great Line is hard to ignore, whether or not you enjoy or even appreciate this subgenre of metal. The passion, intensity, and sense of purpose that literally explodes from this album are to be applauded, examined, and reflected upon by both those people who listen to music and those who actively are making music. I will even go as far as to step up to the plate, superlatives in hand, and declare that this is a career-defining album, in the best way possible - Underoath has happened upon a medium through which they can effectively sing/scream about their struggles, questions, trials, and tribulations without sounding like they're sorry for themselves, whining about their status in life, or pissed off at the world (as twice-baked and over-cooked as that approach is). The lyrics of Spencer Chamberlain & Aaron Gillespie read like the anguished pleadings and prayers of the Major & Minor Prophets of the Old Testament - and I mean that as an extreme compliment.



However, as I sit perusing the phenomenal photography contained within the special edition CD+DVD and examine the subject of the collection in his various stages of devolution and (almost) decomposition, I find myself hoping against hope for a decent lead guitar solo of some sort on more than a few songs. I fully realize that this is a concept album of high distinction and that screamo/hardcore albums often intentionally shun the concept of soloing, but there are times when the dark, brooding chugging could be complemented by a sonorous piece of fretwork (read: NOT a high, soaring 80's solo) connecting the movements in at least the two songs on the album that clock in at over 6 minutes. Do not read too much into my complaint (many metal-heads disdain hardcore as being replete with undisciplined and unstructured guitar players) - I just wish that more technical guitar playing had made its way onto this album.



Ultimately, Define the Great Line is one of the best rock albums of 2006, though the style of rock isn't always agreeable to many people in the demographic to which I belong, much less amongst the people who comprise my regular coterie of readers. Thus, I offer the same suggestion I've offered to the parents of the kids I sold hard music to for 6 years - while listening to the music (at a volume your old ears can tolerate), take out the lyrics, and read along with the men of Underoath. The crushing waves of instrumental fervor notwithstanding, it is the lyrical content lying within these songs ("You're Ever So Inviting" & "Moving For the Sake of Motion" are the album's standout tracks) that makes this album worth several listen-throughs and maybe even a purchase, but only if your old ears are up to the challenge. I'll even let you borrow my copy."

A total turn around...great stuff

Bodom J | Bethpage, TN United States | 06/23/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"only chasing saftey (the previous record) was decent but it was way to screamo and poppy. Here, they go back towards more of their old sound of metal. The vocals have improved greatly, sometimes getting deep throated. THe guitars have a great crunch with some killer riffs. It's just totally sounds like a different band. If you don't like underoath or hated their last cd, then give this one a shot. It's one of the best albums of the year."

Walking a thin line

Brent E. Johnson | Naches, WA | 08/25/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Underoath does a great job of sounding like themself and changing the sound on this one. They straddle the line between screamo and metalcore and combine some almost ambient melodic pieces too. This album has that hard to define but known when heard, maturity, on it. They just sound like they did an album they wanted to do. I don't think it's groundbreaking but it is a worthy listen if you like some melody with your growling and breakdowns. Pay attention to the drummer here, he is driving this machine.

P.S. To the dude who said this is one of the heaviest Christian albums of all time. Check out: Crimson Moonlight, Immortal Souls, Mortification-circa Scrolls of the Megilloth. Tourniquet, Zao, As I Lay Dying, Kekal and I could list more. All are heavier if some are a different style. Thought you might want to know. : ) Peace."