the many faces of underoath

with only one original remaining member, aaron gillespie (not pictured above), underoath has gone through many changes be it members, style, influence, or sound. from their beginning in 1998 as a black metal/metalcore band to the present day sound they have gained and lost a lot of fans.

my personal favorite album/era was and is “the changing of times” (kind of ironic huh?) then only two years later with the departure of singer dallas taylor (currently maylene and the sons of disaster) and the addition of spencer chamberlain they released “they’re only chasing safety.” this album was not greeted with open arms. i was taken aback at first with spencer as the new singer, but the album and spencer grew on me. then another two years later in 2006 they released “define the great line.” i’m still not really a fan of that album. to me it seemed like it was too forced. it seemed as though they thought people thought they had gone “soft” with “they’re only chasing safety,” so they decided to show us they hadn’t. i can listen to the album, but it’s definitely my least favorite. it has a “trying way too hard” sound to it.

now with their upcoming album, “lost in the sound of separation,” they’ve got my ears perked. they’ve released a new song on their myspace, “desperate times desperate measures.” this is more like it. they’ve fine tuned their sound, going back to their roots, yet still keeping that underlying heavy sound. this is only one song, but it sounds very promising. so go to their myspace and have a listen for yourself. whether you’re new to underoath or a diehard fan, the new track, “desperate times desperate measures” is well worth a listen.

the new album “lost in the sound of separation” comes out september 2, 2008. you can pre-order here if you’d like.