“Two Graves” by Anberlin, Sunday, October 24, 2021

We usually like it when people and institutions keep their promises. But in 2014 when Anberlin vowed never to tour or record new music again, fans were hoping that the crossed fingers on the Lowborn album cover was an indication of an artistic fib. Four years after the breakup, though, the band played a one-off show, supporting their friends in Underoath who followed a similar career trajectory: burn out with the music industry, internal quarrels, a reunion, and a new album. After that final night of Underoath's Erase Me tour, Anberlin started playing more and more shows throughout 2019 and were set to hit the road in 2020. When COVID canceled the tour, the band decided to start playing their albums live, selling tickets to their livestreams. During one of the livestreams, the band announced that they were quietly working on new songs, and by the final livestream, the event ended with the band premiering "Two Graves."

NO DOWN FROM ZERO. "Two Graves" is a heavily produced heavy rock track that seems to be very much influenced by their good friends in Underoath. The guitar and distorted drums give it a spooky sound. Stephen Christian's vocals are on-point as usual, though adding more rasp than usual. For a group that has not been afraid to stretch themselves in genre, "Two Graves" is arguably one of the heaviest songs they've released. The band has been releasing heavy songs since their sophomore album, but "Two Graves" seems to look back through their discography, gleaning elements and reordering them into something that sounds new. One of the reasons the song sounds so heavy is that the song first slows down. Something the band tried on the opening track of Dark is the Way Light Is the Place. The song ends with crunchy guitars at the end of the track similar to Vital's "Someone Anyone." Unlike "Dissenter" from the last album, Stephen doesn't scream the lyrics, but the production includes yelling and gang vocals--perhaps incorporating more of the band distinctively into the gang vocal mix than any prior Anberlin song. 

BLOOD IN THE WATERLINE. The lyrics of "Two Graves" match the aggressive music. Stephen often relies on cliches, and this song is no exception. It seems that the song is built on around one central cliche: “If you want revenge, you’d better dig two graves,” but mixes in parts of others. In fact, the weakest part of the song is that every line seems to come from a different cliche. Anberlin is known for angry, aggressive songs on each album, from the teen angst of their second album, personal isolation in their third, and social issues scattered throughout their discography. So what has Stephen so worked up? During Cities, he was pushing back the evangelical response to the war in Iraq. In “Dead American” he was responding to American exceptionalism and consumerism. In “We Are Destroyer,” he calls out a generation that is destroying themselves through their entitlement. In recent years, Christian has become a music minister for several churches and released an album of worship music on Tooth & Nail’s CCM imprint, BEC Records. Christian has been virtually silent on the politics of the Trump presidency, except for a tweet criticizing artists for refusing to play the inauguration. He essentially said that artists could use the opportunity to promote their own agenda afterwards. The band has angered some fans during their livestreams for displaying the message “End Racism” at the end of their sets, discussing the importance of voting in the 2020 election, and why vaccine passports should be required at live shows. Perhaps, though, the anger is with the music industry, that was a major cause of the band's initial break up. Perhaps the message of the song is that being bitter with the label ultimately is just the band's demise. "Dig two graves. Dig two graves." Maybe the best revenge is a successful comeback. 

Read “Two Graves” by Anberlin on Genius.