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Underoath

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Underoath

Underoath (sometimes stylized as Underøath or UnderOATH) is a Christian Metalcore band from Tampa, Florida. [1][2][3][4] They are currently signed to Tooth & Nail Records/Solid State Records.

History

Formation

In 1998 Underoath formed in the bedroom of guitarist Luke Morton in Ocala, Florida. Luke Morton, (the group's first guitarist) devised the name Underoath, in a meeting with Dallas Taylor. After Dallas and Luke practiced a little bit, they decided that they needed a drummer. Aaron Gillespie went to Luke's church, when Luke asked him if he would be interested in playing with them, he agreed, and thus Underoath was born.

Underground Years

After playing at festivals and touring around Florida the band was signed to Takehold Records in 1999 and the same year released their debut, Act of Depression. This EP was followed a year later by the five-song, forty-minute Cries of the Past; both are currently out of print. The band's lineup during this time changed frequently and bears little resemblance to the current band. Likewise, the band's music was far heavier in those days, dabbling in Death Metal, along with periodic structure and time changes and electronic elements. These first albums brought Underoath a small but devoted fanbase.

In 2001, Takehold Records was bought out by Tooth & Nail Records; Underoath was subsequently signed to Tooth & Nail Records' heavier subsidiary, Solid State Records. The band, which was now a sextet, worked with Cries of the Past producer James Paul Wisner (Further Seems Forever, New Found Glory) on their Solid State debut, The Changing of Times, which was released on February 26, 2002. Frequent lineup changes were the main cause of a slightly more accessible sound for the band; shorter songs and more melodic structures replaced the epic twists and turns of their earlier records. Though the change in style caused some long-time fans of the band to criticize the album, The Changing of Times went on to outsell both of their EPs combined.

In 2003, Underoath supported The Changing of Times through their first stint on the Vans Warped Tour but their participation in the tour came to a screeching halt when lead singer Dallas Taylor, under controversial conditions, left the band. Taylor is now the lead singer for Southern metalcore outfit Maylene and the Sons of Disaster. It is worthy to note that Taylor was on tour with Maylene and the Sons of Disaster alongside Underoath in their headlining tour in the fall of 2007.

Underoath dropped off the rest of the Warped Tour and the band's future was in considerable doubt. However, the band then went on a supporting tour with Atreyu that fall with Winter Solstice vocalist Matt Tarpey as the temporary vocalist. Then later in the year, at the CMJ Fest in New York City, the band reappeared with new lead vocalist Spencer Chamberlain, formerly of This Runs Through.

Mainstream success

They're Only Chasing Safety

During the early months of 2004, They're Only Chasing Safety proved to be a breakout success for the band, going on to sell about 350,000 copies. Underoath moved even further away from their metal roots; drummer Gillespie made as much of an impact with his singing on the record as Chamberlain did with his screaming.

"Reinventing Your Exit" and "It's Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door" (referring to a quote by Bilbo Baggins within The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien) were the album's singles; both songs spawned music videos that received airplay on MTV2 and Fuse.

They're Only Chasing Safety debuted at #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart and later charted well into the Billboard 200. Following the release of the album, the band played a number of Warped Tour dates. In the Spring of 2005 the band was asked to participate on the inaugural Taste of Chaos tour. Shortly after the tour, the band embarked on its first headlining tour. The band premiered two brand-new songs during the length of the tour.

The band landed on the cover of Alternative Press magazine for the first time in September of 2005, and in October of 2005, They're Only Chasing Safety was re-released in a two-disc set with three formerly unreleased songs, new artwork by Converge's Jacob Bannon, and a DVD with over two hours worth of the band touring in support of the album.

Define the Great Line

Underoath entered the studio in January 2006 to record their fifth (third full-length) release. Matt Goldman, who produced albums for Copeland and Norma Jean, and Adam Dutkiewicz, guitarist for Killswitch Engage, worked with the band in producing the album, which would come to be titled Define the Great Line.[5] The album combined the melodic tendencies of They're Only Chasing Safety with a return to the band's metalcore roots.

An unfinished version of the album was leaked onto BitTorrent websites and P2P services months before the release date. Members of the band released a statement saying that the leaked version was an unmixed & unmastered, raw copy of the album which lacked certain elements and the finished product would sound much different.

The band flew to Sweden in the spring of 2006 to make videos for the new songs "In Regards to Myself" and "Writing on the Walls"; the latter was chosen as the lead single for the album and was later nominated for the 2007 Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video. When Define the Great Line released on June 20, 2006, it sold 98,000 copies in its first week and debuted on the Billboard 200 Chart at #2,[6] the highest debut for a Christian album since 1997.[7] In its first four weeks on the chart, it stayed in the top 50. It debuted at #1 on the Christian, Christian/Gospel, and Rock charts.

With the debut of Define the Great Line, Underoath simultaneously released a special edition version of the album featuring special artwork and a DVD that includes another behind-the-scenes movie and a "making of" video.

Define the Great Line was certified Gold by the RIAA on November 11, 2006, representing 500,000 shipped units of the album. It is the second album in Tooth & Nail history to reach that distinction (The first being Slowly Going the Way of the Buffalo by MxPx in 2000).

Underoath toured extensively throughout Europe, Australia, and Asia in the fall of 2006 and was on tour with Taking Back Sunday and Armor for Sleep from February to April in 2007. The band also shot videos for the songs "You're Ever So Inviting" and "A Moment Suspended in Time" in February 2007; both videos have been released and "You're Ever So Inviting" won MTV's Battle of the Videos on May 23rd.[8]

Drummer/vocalist Gillespie recorded a side project with Seattle producer Aaron Sprinkle under the name of The Almost shortly after Define the Great Line was recorded; The Almost subsequently was signed to Tooth & Nail and released its first record, Southern Weather, on April 3, 2007. Gillespie plans to tour with The Almost whenever Underoath is not on tour.

Underoath performed a Canadian tour followed by the 'Taste of Chaos World Tour', and also played at Cornerstone Festival 2007. Underoath will be playing again on Warped Tour 2007 from July 24th to August 9th. Underoath have also announced a tour of Australia and East Asia, scheduled for August 2007. They are now on a tour with Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, Poison the Well, and Every Time I Die. While on tour drummer Aaron Gillespie went through emergency surgery on an infection in his hand. Instead of cancelling shows, Underoath recruited Kenny Bozich, the drummer of Gillespie's sideproject The Almost.[9]

On November 6th, 2007, at a concert in Orlando, Florida, Spencer confirmed that the band will have a new record out this summer. He also said that the band will take a break this winter to spend time with family, and record shortly after. On July 17, 2007 Underoath released a DVD entitled 777 to the US market.

"Next month, we'll be releasing the first DVD from the UO camp. Jam-packed with 90+ minutes of footage taken from different tours around the US, as well as shows from Japan, Australia, Europe, Canada and the UK from the last two years. This DVD is a MUST-HAVE for any UO fan."[citation needed]

The DVD, called 777, features 3 of the 4 music videos from Define the Great Line, as well as a behind-the-scenes "making of the video" documentary from the "You're Ever So Inviting" shoot, live performances (such as the MySpace Secret Show) and more.

The DVD was released internationally on July 17th, 2007.

Departure From Warped Tour and NOFX Controversy

Underoath was scheduled to spend the summer of 2006 on the main stage of the Warped Tour, but on July 28, 2006, it was announced that Underoath was dropping off the remaining dates of the tour. A statement from the band stated that the members "felt it necessary to take some immediate time to focus on our friendship, as that’s more important than risking it for the sake of touring at this time.".[10]

Rumors to the contrary, however, flew that the band had actually left because NOFX frontman Michael "Fat Mike" Burkett had made fun of Underoath and their Christian beliefs on-stage. These rumors were debunked when Burkett told PunkNews.org in a statement of his own that Underoath's claim of needing a break was indeed true.[11] Burkett did admit to poking fun at the band and criticizing their stance on gay marriage, but emphasized that he befriended Underoath's band members at the start of the tour, had very civilized conversations with various members right up to the band's departure, that he had a personal policy of not making jokes on-stage about anyone he wasn't friends with or didn't like personally, and that there were never any hard feelings between himself and Underoath's band members.[11] Burkett also revealed on the August 2006 Fat Wreck Chords Podcast that internal troubles amongst the members of Underoath started after Spencer Chamberlain had indulged in a couple of cans of Bud Light with Burkett backstage a few nights prior to Underoath's sudden departure.[12]

In an Alternative Press cover story on Underoath, Burkett told the magazine that Spencer Chamberlain had confided in him that Underoath's band members had been "having a lot of arguments over their religious beliefs.".[13] In a sidebar of the same article, Burkett stated that he was "not calling Underoath homophobic, but they're against homosexual people having the same rights that straight people do. I find that to be bigoted."[14]

Tim McTague admitted that "90 percent of what [Fat Mike] believes in and thinks is wrong about our country and our government, I agree with... [my] opinion doesn't align with the conservative church or the extreme leftist liberal side, either."[14]

In a January 2007 interview with Ultimate-guitar.com, Tim McTague stated the following when asked about Fat Mike's involvement in Underoath's departure,

That wasn’t an issue. I mean, that was an issue in the sense of like there were some things that were said that probably shouldn’t have been said by him. But it never really got to the point where it affected us. That wasn’t the breaking point really for us at all. I think he definitely played a role in making a lot of our stuff public and exaggerating a lot of our beliefs and a lot of our conversations that we had to him. So he definitely loves to stir the pot, and I’ll give him that. But beyond that, we shouldn’t have been on Warped Tour to begin with. It definitely wasn’t a Fat Mike thing.Interview with Tim McTague

Future Album

Underoath plans to release their next album in the summer of 2008. On Fuse's Steven's Untitled Rock Show, it was announced Underoath approached Adam Dutkiewicz, the guitarist of Killswitch Engage, who produced Define the Great Line, to return as producer. In the January 2008 issue of Alternative Press, it was stated that Underoath was going to have both Dutkiewicz and Matt Goldman, who also produced Define the Great Line, produce the new album. Also in the works is a live album, with no official title as of yet. Underoath stated on AP podcast recording begins in march.
Underoath has stated in a recent interview that the album will be considerably heavier than Define the Great Line.[15]

Members

1998-1999

1999-2000

2000-2001

2001-2002

2002-2003

2003-present

Discography

Year of Release Title Label US Billboard Peak US sales
1999 Act of Depression Takehold Records 1,000
2000 Cries of the Past Takehold Records 2,000
2002 The Changing of Times Solid State Records 120,000+
2004 They're Only Chasing Safety Solid State Records #101 350,000+
2006 Define the Great Line Solid State Records #2 500,000+
2007 Underoath 777 DVD Solid State Records 20,000+
2008 Untitled Album Solid State Records
2008 Untitled Live Album Solid State Records

References

  1. ^ Spencer Chamberlain. "We're a Christian band". Hate Something Beautiful.
  2. ^ Chris Dudley. "We're a Christian band". Driven Far Off.
  3. ^ Grant Brandell. "We're a Christian heavy rock band". Music Faith.
  4. ^ Spencer Chamberlain. "I feel like I want people to know we're a Christian band". Solid State Records.
  5. ^ http://www.christianitytoday.com/music/reviews/2006/definethegreatline.html
  6. ^ Billboard Artist Chart Billboard Chart History
  7. ^ Furtado Scores First Chart-Topping Album Billboard, June 26, 2006
  8. ^ "Underoath Shooting Two Videos". Retrieved 2007-07-24.
  9. ^ "Shows". underoath777.com. Retrieved 2007-08-27.
  10. ^ Underoath drops off Warped Tour, PunkNews.org, July 29, 2006
  11. ^ a b Fat Mike addresses Underoath rumors, PunkNews.org, July 31, 2006.
  12. ^ "Bi-Costal Broadcast", Fat Wreck Chords Podcast, August 4, 2006
  13. ^ Staddon, Tristan. "Sometimes You Walk the Line, Sometimes the Line Walks You", Alternative Press, Issue #219, October 2006, pp.180-186.
  14. ^ a b Staddon, Tristan. "Cross Fire", Alternative Press, Issue #219, October 2006, p.186.
  15. ^ http://www.saintrocknroll.com/interview.php?band=Underoath&date=2007-03-23
  16. ^ UnderOath bio at MTV
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