Review Summary: "I know there must be some way out of here and all of them will be waiting there."
The only place I can possibly think to start is a place I wish to forget, Sunday School. Like any other rebellious teenager my age, I hated going strictly because most of everything I personally believed in; whether that be some unknown higher entity I accepted to be beyond my understanding or just wanting to be left alone, and that most of the music I listened to at that time was acknowledged as bad-influence and at times, satanic. Yep, I'm talking about that heavy metal music ***. My only friend in the class was a dude named Robby. He was one of the reasons I came in the first place. This dude knew his music.
Robby listened to it all: Nirvana, Rush, Foo Fighters, Linkin Park, Jack White, Blink-182, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Meat Loaf, Bon Jovi, even some Backstreet Boys from time to time and the list went on. Needless to say, this guy was pretty awesome. But one thing I didn't get was his obsession with what at that time I only knew as “screamo”. One of those bands he frequently mentioned was a christian metal group from Tampa Florida called Underoath. He told me that these guys were popular to a lot of the wrong people (… the “scene kids”... big turn-off..) but he said that hearing their new single, their next album would not only change the face of metal but possibly change .. “what it meant when someone defined music as an art form.”
Bull***, right? Well, this guy wasn't wrong. Almost 8 years later and having a much improved musical palate, I thought it was only right to put up a review on here that changed my life.
Underoath is an interesting band to say the least. Because they constantly change how they write their music and the various genres they attempt to run with, they have a mixed reputation. Most people love that they explore more than one style inside of their main genre pattern while others solely distinguish them as the reason “screamo” became so popular. As I said above, before the release of this album, I wasn't impressed. So what changed between then and know?
In all honesty, 'Define The Great Line' did more than change the band, it eventually characterized them. Starting as a chaotic black/death metal outfit in their first two albums and a more balanced post-hardcore act in their following two releases, this LP expands on more the technicality and emotional dissonance of post-hardcore and post-metal. Starting with the first single and first song on the record, “In Regards to Myself” shows the maturity of the band and breath-taking song structures that constantly shift and bend. This sets an incredible pace as it starts heavy, slows in the middle and explodes at the very end much like the album itself. As you move more into the album, their sense of combining their old and new sounds is tested as tracks like "A Moment Suspended in Time", "You're Ever So Inviting" and "Returning Empty Handed" rip through. These tracks hold a great mark in Underoath's new sound with almost an unusual triviality when meeting the casual melodic moments while still giving die-hard fans the nod they deserve. It reveals a great sense of pride and originality that Underoath is now known for.
The lyrics display incredible emotional ties when facing challenges and trying to control ones destiny. One song in particular that ultimately leaves a footnote in history as one of the greats was "Writing on the Walls". The main lyrical themes of this song expressed pain, weariness, and frustration, but not without the awareness that things need to change. While exploring faith with both reverence and suspicion is nothing new; something that sets them apart from the polarizing righteousness of many CCM acts is their many crossover depictions of these such events. By revealing huge and prevailing themes of isolation, anger, introspection, and a quest for self-confidence, it left me dazed and thinking on a wider scope. I can recall listening to this track over and over in my room when things in my life looked grim and circumscribed exactly what I was searching for; hope.
Overall, Underoath brought us something new while still remembering the old. Few bands that I listen to really push this much effort to broaden their core sound, especially when it already has a committed fanbase. While it can be said that the later albums that debuted had the same continued exploration of this movement, nothing had as much traction (for me) as 'Define The Great Line'. Now seeing the band part ways to bigger and better things, I can only reflect on this album. This album that stood the test of time and stepped outside the box.
