Underoath
They're Only Chasing Safety

THE REVIEW

Just the other night, during rehearsal with my band, the other singer made me want to listen to Underoath again, a Canadian combo dedicated to an emo/screamo/something-core halfway between the angrier Thursday and the calmer Every Time I Die.

"They're Only Chasing Safety", second of their 3 albums released so far, stands out for the heavy use of Chris Dudley's keyboards, which are meant to surround and enrich the sound wall that envelops the melodic voice of drummer Aaron Gillespie and (more often) the (in my opinion phenomenal) screamo of Spencer Chamberlain.

It kicks off powerfully with the potent "Young And Aspiring" where Chamberlain announces "this is my panic, this is my call to arms". Moving forward, you encounter the single "Reinventing Your Exit", the only track where melody takes a slight precedence over the scream (excluding the last track) and with a chorus that you'll find yourself humming without even realizing it.
Another noteworthy track is "It's Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door" (ah, those emo titles... how beautiful they are...) containing a strange little chorus that sings "drowning in my sleep, i'm drowning in my sleep".

"I Don't Feel Very Receptive Today" is instead the angriest track of the album, with Chamberlain who seems truly to tear his vocal cords from the effort. The end comes with the disorienting and sweet -but watch out, it explodes too- "Some Will Seek Forgiveness, Others Escape", a deeply religious piece (Underoath are a Christian band) that deeply moves even an agnostic like myself.

In conclusion, it's a CD that, in my opinion, needs to be listened to at least 2 or 3 times before it can be fully appreciated (the tracks are nonetheless complex and not exactly immediate), but once it gets into your head, you'll hardly be able to resist it.