Review Summary: I’ve grown up, you’ve grown old.
There’s something clawing at my thoughts as
Erase Me plays on in the background. Its taken me a while to decipher, but it hit me recently; I’m 19. Okay, cool, you’re older than me, whatever. But, it feels as if things are changing
around me, rather than
to me. I mentioned in my American Football review my various dealings with new experiences, new destinations, and, particularly, a new
me. I visited home for the past week. Caught up with old and new friends. Lived in my true home. But throughout it, something felt
off. And now that my time visiting is winding down, I’m coming to terms with it. And
Erase Me perfectly encapsulates it.
I’ve grown up, Underoath have grown old.
Now, to be fair, I was relatively late to the Underoath party. At my first taste of
Define The Great Line and just how amazing that record is, the band had been broken up for quite a few years. Hell, Aaron was touring with
Paramore of all bands. But, regardless, Underoath provided a gateway for me. That gateway has seen me span many genres, but despite all this, I come back to these records. It’s obvious, then, that
Erase Me doesn’t give me that same twinkle in my eye. That same
want to listen and know more. All it does is make me want the
old Underoath. And yeah, that may seem elitist, or just me being unaccepting of change, but I see it as something much simpler.
I want to hear exciting music.
Erase Me is a typical comeback album. A band comes back after years of teasing and a massive reunion tour playing their best releases, only to release a record that barely scratches the surface of their previous work. Obviously, time does this to the sound of a band. What was once enthralling may now sound worn down, particularly for a band as influential as Underoath. But where is the excitement? Why does ‘Rapture’ sound like an unassuming, barely tolerable rock track? Why does the album have to end with the most overdone ‘epic piano-rock ballad’ cliché in ‘I Gave Up’? What happened to the genre-defining band I once knew? Even a track like ‘On My Teeth’ sounds so forced, particularly in the lyrics; “You got the best of me/And stabbed me in the back”. To hear such an acclaimed act associate themselves with bands that have long forgotten their roots (Bring Me The Horizon, Asking Alexandria), and come out the other side worse for wear, it leaves listeners, particularly ones in my situation, deflated. Yearning for something more, well,
Underoath.
It’s a shame, then, that this is how such an awaited comeback starts. With something that struggles to appease long-time fans, whilst also slouching compared to contemporaries taking the same ‘safe’ plunge. Sure, the instrumentals overall sound
fine, and Spencer’s newfound front man capabilities certainly don’t hurt. But these positives are overshadowed by such a dull, forgettable return for such a legendary band.
Erase Me signifies the return of Underoath, but not in the way many, including myself, had hoped for.
2/5
