If you’re like me, you probably discovered Underoath through their mid-2000s classic ‘They’re Only Chasing Safety’. A quick browse through the band’s subreddit megathread for their new album, ‘The Place After This One’, suggests that every album since has left some fans yearning for the past. That’s not to say everything the Florida group put out over the last 20 years – despite an eight-year gap – has been a total misfire. After all, Underoath are still going strong, albeit at times inconsistent. However, 2022’s ‘Voyeurist’ was praised for its versatility, but can its follow-up build on that momentum, or does it fall victim to their more erratic tendencies?
‘The Place After This One’ captures Underoath at their most industrious. ‘Generation No Surrender’ bursts out the gate, serving as a rallying cry against discontent before Timothy McTague’s guitar unleashes a crushing breakdown. ‘Devil’ is equally bombastic, yet it highlights one of ‘TPATO’s nagging issues as it rears its head. While on the surface, Underoath‘s delivery is energetic and driven, their tendency to throw layer upon layer into the mix can feel overwhelming rather than refined.
Take previous single ‘Teeth’, as an example. The use of EDM beats alongside jarring, dense metallic blasts is sure to draw comparisons to Bring Me The Horizon. However, its execution feels disorientating rather than dynamic. Another recurring pitfall is Underoath’s tendency to produce ineffective, run-of-the-mill metalcore. ‘And Then There Was Nothing’ sees Underoath at their most intense and heaviest, yet its fiery delivery falls flat. Likewise, the atmospheric album closer, ‘Outsider,’ drains the ravenous energy built up throughout the album. In contrast, ‘Shame’ avoids this fate, partly thanks to its pentrative drumming, infectious chorus and chaotic bursts of aggression.
Nevertheless, there are a handful of impactful moments. ‘Survivor’s Guilt’ pounces with a mechanical bounce, allowing Aaron Gillespie to deliver one of the album’s biggest hooks. Similarly, ‘Loss’ allows Gillespie and co-vocalist Spencer Chamberlain to gallop with an adrenaline rush, as Christopher Dudley’s brazen electronics simmer underneath. By contrast, ‘All The Love Is Gone’ initially struggles under pulsating electronica, yet it eventually segues into a classic Gillespie-led Underoath chorus. Later on, ‘Vultures’ includes a fairly unremarkable cameo from Mastodon’s Troy Sanders but still proves to be a solid highlight, even if it’s sandwiched between the forgettable ‘Spinning in Place’ and ‘Cannibal’.
‘The Place After This One’ is far from consistent and, at times, lopsided. However, Underoath certainly haven’t ‘phoned in’ a routine album. The abrasiveness scattered throughout gives it an addictive rawness, making Chamberlain’s vocals sound as feral as ever. ‘Survivor’s Guilt’ and ‘Loss’ exemplify this, yet cuts such as ‘Teeth’ and ‘Outsider’ stump momentum with their overstuffed layers and fumbled execution.
While hints of experimentation don’t always pay off, ‘The Place After This One’ is the sound of a band unshackled from their past, forging ahead creatively. This results in an album that’s ambitious yet frustratingly inconsistent.
‘The Place After This One’ by Underoath is released on March 28th, 2025 on MNRK Heavy.
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