ranking the underoath discography! :3

(spencer chamberlain era)

xxherlastwalkxx 11/23/2023

this'll be interesting. underoath has a weird discography. for the super dedicated underoath fans, i'll only be ranking the spencer chamberlain era albums. whenever i say "discography" i really just mean they're only chasing safety and everything that came after it. sorry. i know how you guys feel about the changing of times. maybe i'll add the dallas taylor albums at some point, but i'm pretty attached to spencer chamberlain as underoath's second vocalist, so i don't think i'll ever really listen to dallas taylor era underoath much...

6. erase me (2018)

i'm going to be honest, i don't listen to recent underoath very much, so i only have so much to say about this album. don't get me wrong i think that this is a fine album. i'm just not the biggest fan of the modern metalcore sound, and it's a little sad to see underoath heading in that direction, but it's certainly still underoath. the band's back. wooo! and aaron's in there too!! after a few years of the band's breakup, the band reuinites, and even more years since their last album, they finally release 2018's erase me. i'm going to be honest, this album is a little disappointing. the songs are alright, but the album as a whole doesn't provide the most impressive listening experience. not that this is inherently a bad thing, but one of the things that really stands out to me on this album is how little screaming spencer does. he's almost singing the whole time, which makes their whole double vocalist setup less exciting, especially given that aaron rejoined the band after leaving before underoath even broke up. erase me just feels kind of bland, especially considering their discography up to this point.

5. voyeurist (2022)

ok. i'm going to be honest. i HATED this album for a while. the first few times i tried listening to it, i never got past the third song, usually i gave up before the first song just because i really don't like "damn excuses" and "hallelujah." it sounded like it was time to give up. that's it. underoath is edgy modern metalcore now. what's the point. but eventually i sat down and listened to the whole album, and it's actually better than i expected it to be. once you make it past the first couple of songs, it starts to feel almost a little like disambiguation at times. even if i'm not a big fan of the genreal sound of this album and erase me, i think that voyeurist brings back the artsy side of underoath, where they create a whole, cohesive album, rather than just a collection of songs. well, at least once you get past the first two songs.

4. lost in the sound of separation (2008)

this one's an interesting case. some of underoath's best work is on this album -- "breathing in a new mentality" might be their heaviest song yet, and the double closer with "too bright to see, too loud to hear" and "desolate earth: the end is here" might be the best close to an album (that i know of, at least). while we're on the topic, "breathing in a new mentality" is also one of their best live songs, they still play it today for a good reason. i think it's really cool that spencer works in some melodic lines when they play it live. while there are a lot of cool sounds, separation doesn't always feel super cohesive as an album. for most of their albums, underoath does a really good job of making sure that their albums aren't just a collection of songs, and they definitely do that here, doing the "interlude track + dramatic closer" trope, but the rest of the songs just feels a little disjointed from each other at times. also the interlude track on this album just isn't a great interlude, it doesn't really build up the sort of atmosphere like, for example, "salmarnir" from define the great line. instead, it kind of just feels like another song but really repetitive and not super interesting. lost in the sound of separation definitely achieves its own sound, distinct among the other albums of their discography, which you have to give it incredible credit for, but i don't feel that it stands out too much in terms of the listening experience.

3. Ø (disambiguation) (2010)

disambiguation is a very impressive album, especially considering how aaron left supposedly after most of the album was written.^source by the way, if you click on that link, do not read the comments section. according to the christian metal wiki page, the band would start recording disambiguation only about a month and a half after aaron left underoath. that, however, clearly didn't stop the album from one of the most notable releases of their discography. this album is very pretty and melodic, and i think it's impressive how so many of the songs are as heavy as they are, considering how little screaming happens compared to their previous albums. it also has possibly the best example of a good interlude track that i know of, "driftwood," which leads perfectly into "a divine eradication." this album definitely marks a turning point in the band's sound. it's kind of artsy like define the great line, which i think is really important for good underoath albums. from an objective standpoint, it's just a really good album, and it holds up incredibly well by more subjective measures.

2. they're only chasing safety (2004)

i'm getting flashbacks to when i said shipwreck in the sand was better than discovering the waterfront. and whatever i wrote about discovering the waterfront, in terms of why i put silverstein's most important album at only second place, can probably be applied here (self promo, check out my silverstein discography ranking btw). i think that if you had never heard of underoath before and for some theoretical reason you could only ever listen to one of these albums, you should pick this one. it feels a little immature compared to every other spencer chamberlain album, but the songwriting is still incredibly solid, and frankly it's my second favorite emo album so... the way aaron's and spencer's vocals work together is perfect, i mean just listen to "i'm content with losing." (this is also my favorite recording of spencer's screams. what i would give to be able to sound like that.) the guitar work is pretty simple compared to the albums that would follow this one, but it really established the style that they would continue to refine, especially on define the great line. they're only chasing safety is peak boys-in-skinny-jeans-jumping-around-on-stage emo, which is pretty impressive considering how sad some of these songs are. as for individual songs, "the impact of reason" is one of my favorite songs ever. "dangerous business" and "i'm content with losing are more favorites of mine, and i miss the days when they would open their live sets with "i don't feel very receptive today." which i'll add is also an incredible song title. fantastic album. it very much deserves the reputation that it has.

1. define the great line (2006)

i feel like i've basically been explaining why this album is so good instead of actually talking about their other albums. the double guitar work, aaron's and spencer's vocals, the bass and the drum arrangements, the production, the pacing of the album, everything about this album is just done so incredibly well. spencer's screaming style really expanded since chasing safety and compliment how dark define the great line can be. the song "writing on the walls" is fantastic and deserves the love that it gets. this album also has some of underoath's best lyrics, some of my favorites being from "returning empty handed" and "writing on the walls." on the topic of "returning empty handed," the breakdown?? music might've peaked there tbh. while they're only chasing safety is more iconic and, personally, i do listen to that one much more than any other underoath album, define the great line realizes the band's potential much more and, from an objective standpoint, is the perfect underoath album.

another self promo. go read my full review if you want.