I started listening to Underoath right around the time Define the Great Line came out. I followed them throughout that album cycle, through the next album cycle (Lost in the Sound of Separation), through the loss of their singer/drummer Aaron Gillespie, and into the album cycle for Ø (Disambiguation). I love all of those albums. I remember how they did the promotion of the first song released from Ø (Disambiguation), “Illuminator”. They published a single layer of audio of the song one day at a time for a week. What a great way to show off each of their parts.

I remember my disappointment when they announced their breakup in 2012. I remember being even more disappointed that their farewell tour was a paltry 9 dates on the east coast, only a year after I moved from Atlanta to Seattle.

Shortly after Underoath was over, a friend recommended Bring Me the Horizon. I had listened to one song by that band previously, “Diamonds Aren’t Forever”. That song was a little too heavy for me, as was the album it came from. However, the band had lost a guitarist, and gained a new member handling keys and samples – their arrangement was now nearly identical to what Underoath had been when they broke up. Bring Me The Horizon had just released “Shadow Moses” from the upcoming Sempiternal, and they had left behind the harsh vocals of their prior records for a more focused sound. BMTH had fallen squarely in the hole Underoath had vacated. Sempiternal felt like the Underoath album I wanted in 2013.

The next Bring Me the Horizon album That’s the Spirit was good as well. The band had continued to grow and began seeing some main stream success as they had moved even further away from the metal side of their influences for more of a main stream hard rock band (See: “Follow You”). Hell, they even opened for Justin Bieber at a few dates.

Which brings me to the new Underoath album, Erase Me, which is their first album since the band reunited for a hand full of anniversary tours for Define the Great Line. Erase Me is a solid album – I’m on my third way through it now – but the first thing that occurs to me is how much it reminds me of That’s the Spirit. The album is easily the most main stream metal Underoath has ever been. Thats not a bad thing in this case – it just is, in fact, the case. Songs like “Rapture” and “ihateit” could easily be played on a modern rock radio station, and that would be a first for Underoath. Given how much success Bring Me the Horizon has had going in this musical direction coming from a similar musical place as Underoath, I really hope this album carries Underoath to some big places. I’d love to see those guys rocking into their 60’s