Underoath: A Voice in the Dischord
Over the span of their more than 20-year career, UNDEROATH have refused to do what is expected of them. Starting as a deathcore band before transitioning into the realms of screamo, UNDEROATH shot to the top of the post-hardcore scene with their 2004 masterpiece They’re Only Chasing Safety. Rather than continue riding off the success of this album’s infectiously catchy choruses, the band continued to experiment, progressing into darker and heavier material on records like Define The Great Line and Lost In The Sound Of Separation.
Now, the six-piece have emerged from COVID-19 with a ferocious follow-up to 2018’s Erase Me. Previewed alongside a virtual concert experience, titled Digital Ghost, UNDEROATH’s new record Voyeurist is an almighty exhalation of all the pent-up anger, frustration, and confusion of the last few years.
“During COVID, no one was actually dialoguing,” explains lead guitarist Timothy McTague. “What we saw, and are still seeing, is this weird fracturing, fragmented society. Everything in life right now is a giant half-understanding.”
As frontman and chief lyric-writer Spencer Chamberlain explains, the themes on the record were also a product of where the band was before its writing. After returning from an extended hiatus, having cast off their status as a ‘Christian band’, UNDEROATH were dealing with their own interpersonal tensions along with the pressure of being a successful heavy rock band.
“There’s a song on the record called We’re All Gonna Die, and the label was super excited like, ‘a lot of COVID songs’ can be cheesy, but this song is awesome’. It caught me off guard as fuck because I wrote it before that,” explains the vocalist. “We were on our full first run back and the Erase Me cycle was longer and more gruelling than we had thought and old problems were being hashed up. It was kind of eerie that a lot of these feelings we were having were coming to this weird, tense place before – boom – we were locked down.”
If any tension was lingering in the UNDEROATH camp, it certainly doesn’t show on this new record. The band’s forthcoming ninth studio album sees UNDEROATH firing on all cylinders, sounding bruising as ever but with that flair for melody and song structure that sets them apart from their metalcore contemporaries. It’s all the more impressive that the record sounds as good as it does, as this is the first record the band have self-produced.
“We’ve always wanted to do it ourselves, but we were never mature enough in our personal friendships,” says Spencer. “Now we can be men and tell each other if something’s not good enough or we don’t like an idea. And still, people got their feelings hurt, punched walls, cried, and there were some ‘fuck yous’. But there was also lots of love and celebratory hugs and ‘this is the best shit ever’. We came out the other end stronger.”
Taking production duties in-house has allowed the band to become even more experimental on Voyeurist. One such moment of experimentation is the song Cycle, which features a guest vocal from underground rapper and songwriter GHOSTMANE. As Spencer tells us, this unique collaboration was borne from a mutual appreciation between the two artists.
“We could easily call one of our friends, Josh Scogin [NORMA JEAN], Keith Buckley [EVERY TIME I DIE], or Jason Butler [FEVER 333], or any other rad guy from our genre and it would be dope. But I was pretty firm that if we’re going to do a feature, I want it to be something way outside of our realm.”
“We reached out to GHOSTMANE’s manager and got no response and then randomly he messaged Aaron [Gillespe, drums/vocals] on Instagram. We told him we want you to sing on a track and he was ecstatic about it. He completely blew it out of the water and we’re super pleased with how it turned out.”
“There were plans to have GHOSTMANE come down for the Digital Ghost performance but it didn’t work out – you know how schedules are,” he adds. “But now in hindsight, I’m kind of stoked because what if the first time we ever perform it together is actually in front of a live audience of people. Say it’s a festival or when we cross paths on tour. It will be a sight to see whenever it does happen.”
At this point, our conversation takes a detour when we ask Spencer who he would pick if he could bring any artist in the world onto an UNDEROATH track. He whistles and takes a long pause indicating that this a question he has pondered before.
“Zack de la Rocha [RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE] – getting his energy on a track would be the coolest thing ever. Tom Morello has been collaborating with some of our homies, he did that song with BRING ME THE HORIZON and that’s cool! At least he knows about our world and what we in the younger generation have been up to. The list goes on. I would die to get in a room with Trent Reznor. Thom Yorke is on that same level but it’s a pipe dream.”
Now, UNDEROATH are getting ready to hit the road for the first time since the pandemic hit – and what a tour they’ve got planned. The band will be taking legends EVERY TIME I DIE and legends-in-the-making SPIRITBOX across the USA in support of the new record.
“Everyone has seemed floored by it,” says Spencer, speaking about the Digital Ghost concert event where fans got to listen to the new album for the first time. “Our tour starts February and that’ll be our first tour since COVID-19. Once everyone has had the chance to get their hands on [Voyeurist] it will be on. I feel pretty good about it – I haven’t felt this way in a long time.”
Voyeurist is out now via Fearless Records.
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