"In Motion" by Underoath, Monday, February 7, 2022
Spencer Chamberlain didn't grow up in a Christian home, but became a Christian, influenced by his step brother who was a pastor. Chamberlain's conversion story was a perfect marketing tool for the Christian music industry: a young man who struggled with mental health and substance abuse turns to Christ and makes rock music about how God helped him through his struggles. The problem was that when Chamberlain relapsed, he had to stick to his conversion story or face being ousted at first from the band, which happened briefly in 2006, or the Christian music scene. The band was divided on how to handle the secret.
THESE EVENTS ARE ALREADY IN MOTION. Last month, I dug into a new song by Underoath from their latest album Voyeurist. Today, I listened to Episode 1 of Labeled: Deep Dives. Last month's Episode 0 provides an overview of the band's creative process, but Episode 1 focuses on the contributions and perspectives of guitarist Tim McTague and engineer JJ Revell on the record as a whole and specifically on the opening track and lead single, "Damn Excuses." The series reveals how much disdain the band has for their former record, Erase Me, though they have no regrets about making it. Many long-term Underoath fans, too, took issue with 1) the album's profanity, 2) the album's lack of heavy songs, and 3) Underoath's rejection of Christianity. Having heard a lot of the band's promotion of surrounding Erase Me, hearing how the album was "the best one [they've] recorded" and all the promo talks fans often think are sincere, Voyeurist seemed to be part of the same story told in the last album. I was shocked to find out how much the band ended up hating their last record, and that the lyrics in Voyeurist deal with the conflict that comes from six bandmates being able to veto any choice in the band, particularly coming from a time when the band was on their best behavior in 2018, trying to keep the usually volatile work environment from being the cause of another break-up.
SHOULD'VE DIED A THOUSAND TIMES OR MAYBE MORE. "In Motion" is the penultimate track on the standard edition of Erase Me. I'm not a huge heavy music fan, so Erase Me is my favorite Underoath record. The album still sounds fresh with its elements of modern rock and radio-friendly active rock, unheard on other Underoath records. On Episode 1 of Labeled: Deep Dives, Tim McTague says there will never be another Underoath album with a song like "Wake Me." Another point of contention was Chamberlain's penchant for singing rather than screaming on Erase Me. The band had been constructed around Chamberlain's screaming and drummer Aaron Gillespie's clean vocals. On Voyeurist, though, Chamberlain screams and sings in a fluid motion. After listening to Episode 1, I wanted to revisit Erase Me. The reason I loved it is the same reason the die-hards hated it. When I was a teen, I could take a few songs from They're Only Chasing Safety and Define the Great Line, but the dark, screaming music never truly resonated with me. Today's song, besides sounding like the theme music from The IT Crowd, made me think about something Spencer and Aaron talk about on Episode 0, a fight that they had after playing nice for nearly 10 years. Spencer talks about overdosing in a hotel, and he used this experience in several of the band's songs. Aaron argued that that experience was just as much his own because Aaron was the one who found Spencer and called 911. After that conversation, I thought that the perspective on Voyeurist merited itself, whereas I thought essentially they were the same album, except Voyeurist was heavier, more profanity-heavy, and bleaker towards Christianity. Do I love Voyeurist? Not really, but I think it's a piece of art worth a listen. Today, though, it's all about Erase Me.
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