Review Summary: With a major lineup change and a heap of new influences, Underoath unleash what is indisputably their single most engaging album yet.
It's funny how much a lineup change can affect a band, isn't it?
What makes Underoath's case strange is that in many, many cases, a simple lineup change does not affect the given band's sound in the slightest, and when it does, it's usually a change in vocalists, not just in the percussion spot. But this is what happened to Underoath on
Disambiguation: they parted ways with their drummer/backup vocalist and last remaining founding member Aaron Gillespie in early 2010, polarizing many of the band's fans. While he was certainly a more than competent drummer, his most distinctive contribution was his high, soaring cleans. These were what made someone love or hate Underoath when it really came down to it, with one faction loving them for their clarity and beauty, and the rest detesting them for their apparent "whiny-ness." On the band's 7th studio album, with the loss of Gillespie, these vocals are gone for good, and the query remains as to whether this results in a positive or a negative outcome.
The answer is that this has turned out to be an overwhelmingly good thing for the band's sound, the listener's opinion of Gillespie's cleans nonwithstanding. There are still cleans scattered throughout the album contributed by lead screamer Spencer Chamberlain, for Underoath would not be Underoath if they lost the sing-scream dynamics for which they are known. The difference is that Chamberlain's vocals are rougher, rawer, and more fitting of the music than Gillespie's often overproduced-feeling cleans. They have been on the band's previous albums, but the loss of Gillespie gives Chamberlain more time to shine, and shine he does. The cleans are utilized in near every track, with some highlights being lead single
In Division and slow-burning epic
In Completion. The former uses them during its chorus to produce an effect that, when paired with the relatively slow pace of the song and the dissonant guitar notes in the chorus, could be almost described as sludgy. It's not the record's only song which showcases these new influences, but it is certainly its most prominent example. Also, Chamberlain's harsh screams are, as always, impressive, and they fit the chaos and darkness of the music so well that it's hard not to smile whenever he unleashes one of those beautifully coarse shrieks or growls (he has a much wider range of harsh vocal styles than he has in the past).
The vocals are not the only aspect of the album that make it such a winner: every single member has something important to contribute to the band's overall sound, and they would be utterly lost if but one of these talented musicians were absent. Newcomer David Danielson, formerly of Norma Jean fame, mans the drumkit, and does a damn fine job of it. He's on a similar technical level to Gillespie, but, just like with the change in vocal focus, he brings a fairly distinctive style of drumming that sounds less sterile: more raw, unrefined, natural... Take your pick, but there's an unmistakable energy in Danielson's work that was absent in Underoath's previous albums. One can easily see the prevalent influence of his former band, Norma Jean, scattered throughout the record, whether it be in the frenetic energy of the drumming, or in other areas, such as the noticeably darker and chaotic tone that
Ø showcases.
The guitars and bass both bring something to the band's new and improved sound as well, with the bass especially being one of the album's most obvious highlights. Unlike on so many metalcore records, the bass is audible throughout, and is constantly retaining a unique identity of its own rather than merely acting as a supplement to the guitars. In fact, some songs even have basslines that are memorable enough for a listener to identify songs based on the bassline alone, with outstanding examples being
Catch Myself Catching Myself and
Vacant Mouth. That's not to say that the bass is the only notable stringed instrument here: the guitars, while not being the technical wonders that they tend to be on first-wave metalcore bands, are impressive for what the music is. As mentioned before, the album displays hints of a sludge influence in places, and the combination of the oft-distorted bass tone and the thick, dissonant, angry guitars are what really cements this new influence. The guitars here truly have some of the thickest, sludgiest tones that will ever grace your ear canals on a metalcore album, creating an all-encompassing, all-consuming sound that will dominate your thoughts for days to come, yet they have this density without ever sacrificing the chaotic dissonance that made everyone love Underoath in the first place.
As for the overall sound of the record, there isn't much new to say that hasn't been said already. This gem of an album is as raw as its vocals, as energetic as its drums, as thickly dissonant as its guitars, and as bombastic as its bass. These elements combine with various other extras to create an album truly worth listening to. Chris Dudley is the man on the keys and synths, and in doing this he cements himself as the most tasteful keyboardist in metalcore. While others will utilize the keys mostly to make a breakdown (on a sidenote, this album also shines in that it
never,
ever overuses breakdowns) sound more epic and brutal (TDWP, I'm looking at you), Dudley barely even uses that stereotypical cheesy syth sound, preferring instead to add a note here and there and to introduce a few well-done electronic themes.
But the single element that, more than any others, makes this album great is its pure catchiness and accessibility. Honestly, there aren't many core bands that can make an album that is sophisticated but at the same time catchy, with legions of groups making either an absolute wanktastic chore of an album or going the opposite route of creating a breakdown and synthesizer-riddled disaster, but Undernoath has done it. The album has the chaos and dissonance to invoke a genocide in the mosh pit, it has the breakdowns to send the listener into a frenzy of foot-tapping and headbanging in the middle of a crowded street (see the final section of
In Completion for one of the album's best), it has the collective technicality and originality to impress the most elite of Converge fanboys, and it has, of course, an abundance of hooks and melodies that will keep the listener constantly coming back for more. Finally, it has a variety of styles and songs to back it all up and to keep the album from descending into a pit of monotony. Every single one of these aforementioned factors combine in a single fluid motion to construct what is easily one of the best, if not the best, metalcore albums of 2010. Here's to hoping the band continues on this upwards trend: Underoath, you have made an admirer out of me. Let's see you do it again.
Album Highlights
In Division
A Divine Eradication
Who Will Guard the Guardians?
In Completion
