I don’t know what’s happening – I am slipping! I had no clue Underoath’s new album, The Place After this One, was coming until my sister told me about it. That’s a major fail!
I suppose when I think back on it, I did technically know an album was coming because they talked about new music at the show I went to in November and even played a song from it, but I just had no clue when. And apparently social media let me down because not only do I follow the band, but also three of the members! Not once did an advertisement for the new album come across my feeds! All that being said, I quite liked the new music. And in a cool twist, Underoath released one long “visualizer” video for the whole album on their Youtube channel. It was like one long music video, but truthfully I would have really liked to have seen this on a huge screen. Some parts came across really cinematically and deserved to be treated as such. Oh, well, I’ll settle.
Admittedly, I know I will struggle to compare this their last album, Voyeurist, because most of it just did not stand out to me. I’m sad about it, but not everything can be a win. The Place After this One, however, definitely has some home runs! I also really appreciated the creative swings they took here. In my opinion, they were able to mix their really hardcore past with some wacky electronic stuff and a lot of it really worked for me. I know I have a more eclectic taste than my sister who was pretty against this album the first few listens. I knew she just needed to give it a few more to love it and I was correct. She’s a little unbending in her tastes sometimes so it takes her a while to appreciate something new and different.
Songs off the album that immediately slapped were of course, “Generation No Surrender,” “Vultures,” and “Cannibal.” The first song was what the crowd at the November show was treated to with plenty of crowd participation to go along with it. This one got its own true music video in the visualizer. “Vultures” had a pretty awesome pre-chorus and I really dug the off tune vocals going against grating and descending synths. “Cannibal” was just really solid from start to finish. the bridge and breakdown just sounded so, so nice to my ears. Aaron really delivers! Speaking of vocals, I really liked the alternating vocals in “Spinning in Place” – Aaron and Spencer compliment each other so well!
Some of the songs that have real experimentation to them were “Teeth” and “Shame.” Both almost have a real pop sound to them, though the former uses it more prominently as the backdrop to some really dark lyrics. As a now self-proclaimed avid K-Pop fan, I couldn’t help but think of the sounds in this song fitting in well with that world. “Same” utilizes that style, as well, though much less so. It really only pops in occasionally, which felt like a nice break between the really heavy bits. But old Underoath fans fear not, this isn’t some pop album by any means. If you want the really hard stuff, check out “Devil” and “And Then There was Nothing.” Though the latter is quite short, it still packs a meaningful punch.
Overall, I was really pleased with this new album and I hope they tour it extensively over the next few years. These guys have become a quality staple in my life over the past decade!