I have had Underoath’s They’re Only Chasing Safety album cover as my avatar on here for a very long time now.
I really enjoy the album and the picture is pretty cool. Underoath has always been a pretty heavy band but their lyrics never seemed dark to me.
I have not listened to them since they broke up in 2013 or so and did not know they were back together and making music again.
I was scrolling through the channels on SiriusXM and saw Underoath being played but did not recognize the song Rapture.
So I started listening and it sounded really good. While their style has softened a little less yelling and screaming with lighter tone. So I jumped over to Amazon Music and sure enough found an album I did not know existed. That’s odd it has a Explicit label to it as Underoath is a Christian Band.
So I start listening and am enjoying it but wow the lyrics are really really dark and some cursing. So I start doing some googling and it seems that they are no longer a Christian band the two main fellas have seemed to step back from their organized Christianity.
Does not seem they have lost their faith in Christ but their faith in the people that are the church. Which I have done myself in the past and come back.
Interesting how the lyrics seem to really change with a lifestyle or belief change. I am about 4 years behind since this album came out in 2018 and I guess a new album is supposed to be released this month (which is likely why they were being played on SiriusXM today).
I am looking forward to hearing the new album.

Apparently Wendy’s Official Twitter feed yes the burger place pokes fun at them for cursing on the album.
https://mobile.twitter.com/Wen...od-underoath-more%2F

I found them years ago (When the sun sleeps).
Was actually shocked to learn they were christian (just based on the style of music).

quote:

Originally posted by creslin:
I found them years ago (When the sun sleeps).
Was actually shocked to learn they were christian (just based on the style of music).

There were so many good hardcore Christian bands from the late 90s to around 2015 or 2016. There are a few left but I grew up in the bay day of them and so glad I did.

Just found this video in reading a bit more on Underoath’s recent progression (I guess that is the right word) and this dude is pretty much spot on.

Yeah, that era is over. Not going to watch the guys analysis video right now, but I’ve heard a number of theories. Most prominent is that most of the bands in that scene were “in name only” and their behavior on the road was just typical rock band stuff. A few weren’t, but most all were. My favorites from the era were Zao and Living Sacrifice. Bruce Fitzhugh was the real deal. Dan Weyandt… not so much, and they quickly dropped the “Christian” from their flavor after Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest, which was about what the title sounds like. Probably a lot of it started with real spirituality, but when you throw enough booze, drugs, and pussy at it, you kind of lose that focus.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:

man, I'm glad I don't go to church wherever they went. there are judgmental people everywhere but the Christian people I surround myself with provide everything they say they can only find outside of the church. if they can't find acceptance, empathy, compassion, prayer, etc. in their network then by all means look for another network. once again, placing too much emphasis on the people rather than what the Word of God says.

I get disillusioned with people, too, but my hope is not in them.

Smudge if you enjoy the genre I suggest taking the time to watch the video.
I think it is very well done and spot on.

Turns out the new Underoath album dropped today and the 2 songs that they played on Octane today were good.

This thread makes me really miss The Kiln that was the hard Christian Station on XM when it first launched.
I still listen to RadioU but it is not much like it used to be in the late 90s early 2000s.
The throwback channel is alright but their playlist should be so much deeper than they are.

When they had a concert in '18 with Anberlin's reunion, I kind of thought they're kinda pushing the Christian Rock envelope. We only stayed for two songs since my daughter and I were only there for Anberlin.

quote:

Originally posted by YellowJacket:

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:

man, I'm glad I don't go to church wherever they went. there are judgmental people everywhere but the Christian people I surround myself with provide everything they say they can only find outside of the church. if they can't find acceptance, empathy, compassion, prayer, etc. in their network then by all means look for another network. once again, placing too much emphasis on the people rather than what the Word of God says.

I get disillusioned with people, too, but my hope is not in them.

You do have to see their point though. Question doctrine and you're the subject of gossip or ridicule. Doctrine that is contrary to Scripture should be questioned but you may as well just leave because things aren't going to change especially when the ministry depends on that doctrine for a paycheck. It seems the bigger the church, the bigger the problem. It's not just their church, I'm sure in their travels they've been to many different congregations. The big disillusionment comes from seeing the same problems everywhere.

Smudge mentioned Zao; I think they're still a Christian band.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
and this dude is pretty much spot on

The Punk Rock MBA is a great YT channel. Finn is smart and funny, and does a great job breaking down why certain bands and genres of music were popular during certain time periods, in a surprisingly intelligent way. I've watched a lot of his stuff, and it's all been educational and entertaining, even the stuff on bands/genres that never interested me.

Man, their new album Voyeurist that just came out this week is even more dark than Erase Me that I just found the other day.
Going to have to get used to them cursing so much as well.

The albums are good just going to take some getting used to.

Never got into this genre much, all I recall about it was trading a Loverboy cassette for a Petra cassette with a friend on the way back from summer camp.

Wish I had that Loverboy cassette back.....

quote:

Originally posted by KSGM:
Smudge mentioned Zao; I think they're still a Christian band.

If they are, it’s a newer development. Dan Weyandt flatly stated in an interview back around 2004-2006 that they were not. Parade of Chaos was pretty “meh” and I stopped paying attention to them. I see they put out an album last year, I’ll have to give it a listen.


Was thinking of this thread today and queued up Strongarm’s Advent of A Miracle. Miss that era of that genre of music. Non-Christian bands like Shai Hulud, Poison the Well, and Hopesfall as well. Straight up hardcore.

quote:

Originally posted by slabsides45:
Never got into this genre much, all I recall about it was trading a Loverboy cassette for a Petra cassette with a friend on the way back from summer camp.

Wish I had that Loverboy cassette back.....

Yeah, Petra. Not even close to this genre.

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:

quote:

Originally posted by KSGM:
Smudge mentioned Zao; I think they're still a Christian band.

If they are, it’s a newer development. Dan Weyandt flatly stated in an interview back around 2004-2006 that they were not. Parade of Chaos was pretty “meh” and I stopped paying attention to them. I see they put out an album last year, I’ll have to give it a listen.


Was thinking of this thread today and queued up Strongarm’s Advent of A Miracle. Miss that era of that genre of music. Non-Christian bands like Shai Hulud, Poison the Well, and Hopesfall as well. Straight up hardcore.

ZAO was a Christian Band but they kind of did the same thing as members ebbed and flowed and while they have/had some Christian members they don’t consider themselves a Christian band.

As for Strongarm, Advent of a Miracle was the song that introduced me to this type of music. Not going to lie it is fun on occasion in the summer to roll up to a stoplight, just have it ripping and look over to see the reaction. Even better when I am driving the company truck!

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
ZAO was a Christian Band but they kind of did the same thing as members ebbed and flowed and while they have/had some Christian members they don’t consider themselves a Christian band.

Yeah, the first two albums were directed towards people who felt alienated by the church, much like what the guys in Underoath were talking about in the video you linked. Early 90's hardcore, and lyrics trying to lead people to Christ. It was good stuff. That changed in 1998 with a new lineup, and as of about 2006, there's no original members left. And actually, now that I think of it, tracks like Ravage Ritual and Skin Like Winter were also. I did a little reading up last night and caught up on the history of the band that I've missed since about 2005 or so, and was shocked to realize they've been at it for thirty years. Thirty. Years. At this end of the pool, particularly this corner, that's pretty much unheard of. I listened to The Crimson Corridor today, and that's easily their best work. It's not a happy album and I couldn't listen to it all the time, but damn if it isn't solid musicianship and years of growth. It's probably about the same effect Yoyeurist had on you.

While I was reading up, band names I haven't thought of in at least a decade came up: Training for Utopia, Eyes Upon Separation, Juliana Theory, From Autumn to Ashes, Seasons in the Field, Society's Finest, Demon Hunter, Austrian Death Machine. Good stuff. I think a trip down memory lane is in order this week.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
As for Strongarm, Advent of a Miracle was the song that introduced me to this type of music. Not going to lie it is fun on occasion in the summer to roll up to a stoplight, just have it ripping and look over to see the reaction. Even better when I am driving the company truck!

Strongarm is good stuff, but after listening to it yesterday, I was struck by how far heavy music has come since then. Granted that was nearly twenty years ago, and some of the stuff I've mentioned predates that by a decade, but going from that to some of the stuff I've been listening to lately really throws it into sharp relief. If the Christian qualifier is what matter most to you, there's a lot of good stuff if you're into a variety of styles of heavy music. If it's the heaviness you're into... man, it's gone way beyond anything I was listening to then and I could list bands but it would be going off topic. I will say this, in the scenario you mentioned, Chelsea Grin's "Playing With Fire" is my top choice.

Sorry for the thread drift, it's just that back then, I listened to a lot of different bands that were all either on the same or sister labels, playing the same tours and festivals, or swapping members at various points. Late 90's and early 2000's Tooth and Nail and Solid State records had a lot of good artists. Watching those guys' music evolve and change... it's all part of the same conversation to me.

Thread drift is fine by me. Very few folks have any clue what I am talking about when I bring this stuff up.

You bring up some really good names.
Juliana Theory - Duane Joseph has been a song that gets frequently played for years and years now. It’s just a fun song and my boys love to sing along to it.

As for Demon Hunter them and Project 86 are pretty much the only 2 bands that I have listened to at least monthly but generally weekly for the last 20 years. All the others seem to slip away for a few years before I think about them and play them for a bit.

Fun fact you may already know Seal Team 6 wore Demon Hunter patches on the Bin Laden raid.
Coincidently I have worn a Demon Hunter patch on my raid vest and have one stuck to the roof of my company truck since before I read about and saw the pics of Seal Team 6.

Years ago when this Christian Hardcore genre was huge I listened to it 90% of the time.
As it faded I found myself listening to less and frequenting more tame varieties I guess you would say. I still listen to it on occasion but not nearly to the extent I once did.

RadioU was my go to then and a great way to keep up with the music. Since then RadioU has become filled with a bit more pop, rap, and hip hop that most Christian stations won’t play. As those genres have really picked up while the true metal and hardcore that got RadioU started as faded substantially so they have had to adapt.

They have a throwback channel which plays some decent stuff and a Battery which is metal and hardcore which is decent. But their playlist is so shallow for as much material that is out there.
https://radiou.com/player/?stream=radiou

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
Thread drift is fine by me. Very few folks have any clue what I am talking about when I bring this stuff up.

Fair enough. I have little doubt we're the only two on this forum who spent any time listening to these artists. We probably would've been in the same crowd had we gone to highschool together.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
You bring up some really good names.
Juliana Theory - Duane Joseph has been a song that gets frequently played for years and years now. It’s just a fun song and my boys love to sing along to it.

I never got into Juliana Theory in a huge way. They came out at the introduction to really heavy music. I had a friend who introduced me to Slick Shoes around 1999 or so, and that's about as far as I got into the pop punk/emo neighborhood. Those guys are fun.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
As for Demon Hunter them and Project 86 are pretty much the only 2 bands that I have listened to at least monthly but generally weekly for the last 20 years. All the others seem to slip away for a few years before I think about them and play them for a bit.

Oh man, I forgot all about Blindside. My friends and I used to the listen to their self-titled in my friend's car. We were roommates our freshman year of college. Brings back bands like Thousand Foot Krutch, Blindside, and Luti Kriss (later Norma Jean). Oh man, Luti Kriss! 2 Black Smith blaring leaving the high school parking lot... Looking them up and I see The Chariot. Holy balls, I forgot all about them. Before There Was Atlanta, There Was Douglasville. Oh man, I just pulled up my music folder from those years. Embodyment, Blindside, The Agony Scene... I could go on and on, I gotta finish this up and make breakfast.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
Fun fact you may already know Seal Team 6 wore Demon Hunter patches on the Bin Laden raid.
Coincidently I have worn a Demon Hunter patch on my raid vest and have one stuck to the roof of my company truck since before I read about and saw the pics of Seal Team 6.

No I didn't, that's awesome! I looked it up, and yeah, that's easily more badass than the Punisher logo for a morale patch. Good call there.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
Years ago when this Christian Hardcore genre was huge I listened to it 90% of the time.
As it faded I found myself listening to less and frequenting more tame varieties I guess you would say. I still listen to it on occasion but not nearly to the extent I once did.

Yeah, same. I can't think of any of it that I listen to with an frequency. I graduated from that stuff to Barrit, Dillinger Escape Plan, Harvest and then Converge. Jane Doe is my favorite album from that whole era. I got to wind some humbuckers for Kurt Ballou back in very early 2014, then get to see them play Concubine and Fault/Fracture live with those pickups to close out the show, then go up to the stage with my Lollar shirt on and flag down Kurt. Shook his hand and talked gear for a minute. Easily the highlight of my music industry career. Then around 2007, it was bands like Job For a Cowboy and All Shall Perish (Two Inches From a Main Artery changed my life, musically) and that led me down the deathcore path. Today, it's bands like Lorna Shore, Babirusa, Carcosa, Brand of Sacrifice, Signs Of The Swarm, and I just recently got put onto To The Grave. Holy shit, they're nuts. I, Valiance if you want to go from jazz to hip hop to slam in one song.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
RadioU

I'll check it out, thanks.

Ohh man, Slick Shoes not thought about them in a long long time. Going to need to break some of that out tonight.

Blindside is right up there with Project 86 and Demon Hunter as Pitiful and a couple other tracks are still very much involved in my workout mix.

Don’t really put Thousand Foot Krutch in this genre but am a big fan of them. And still listen to them and FM Static often.
TFK is a band that really progressed and matured musically with each album to a very noticeable note. 1st car wreck I was ever in I was listening to TFK. Senior year of High School and I was getting ready to fly to LA for a school trip and needed some new tunes. The TFK Set it Off Album cover with them wearing gas masks caught my eye on the shelf so I picked it up not even knowing what it was.
Popped it in the CD player in my Mustang and was off to pick my little girly friend up from school so we could have dinner before I flew out. Nice spring day and the windows down and the TFK pumping and KABOOOOM got T boned by someone driving in reverse down the road in the wrong lane!

Man, I could go on for hours about music and fun stories associated with them back then.

Popped a shot of my headliner today.


If you are ever around Kentucky hit me up!