I'm digging this a lot after a few listens. Survivor's Guilt and All the Love is Gone are the only tracks I just can't get into. This feels like a much more inspired and mature effort by the band compared to Erase Me and Voyeurist. Easily their best work since the reunion in my opinion.
gottt it, yeah I knew it wasn't ever for digital platforms (probably wouldn't be ideal for SEO), but was just wondering if there was consistency here. I still have the crossed O in my library
been running the drip this morning and man chris really went off here. def one of the albums hes most integrated within
These comments got me so hyped. I felt like Chris shined more on Digital Ghost due to the underwater sounding vibes I got from Voyeurist's mix at times, so I hope his touches are crucially all over this thing again and you can hear them clear and loud
devil is for my money prob the best thing here, altho around shame it generally picks up a good bit very mixed feelings overall but by no means would i call this album uninspired. even if im not sold on a lot of its creative choices, they definitely swung for what they wanted to achieve with this
Alright, classic album release day hyperbole time First impressions are that this is their best since their return and I now get where Spencer came from in his recent comments. There's definitely an energy and urgency in these songs that takes me back to their pre-breakup days but godamnnit why did they pick the absolute worst songs as singles to showcase that!? Devil is HUGE. Instantly one of the best things they've ever done, or at least the best attempt at marrying their core sound with the dancey, industrial rock they've been toying around with since their return. And Then There Was Nothing, Spinning In Place, Vultures, Cannibal and Shame are all bangers as well. I love how the album doesn't let up even once until Teeth. It really reminds me of the flow of their classic album run. Seriously, releasing any of the aforementioned songs at some point in the last 6 months would've made me have more faith in them during the entire rollout but... it is what is and it doesn't matter now that the full thing is out. That said, Loss does veer close to Octanecore territory during the chorus, which isn't my cup of tea even though I love the rest. I have qualms with the repetition in Shame and Cannibal's hooks as well but Tim brings me back in with his groovy riffs. They're not the most technical or anything but it's like he brought back some specific quirks that were either absent or barely present or audible on Erase Me and Voyeurist. I mean... Devil's main riff? It's just so *him* in a way I hadn't felt in an Underoath song since Unsound (edit: Sunburnt, 12 years later and I still mix up the two). It's in the polyrhythms, the panic chords, the slight feedbacks, the grooves... add Aaron's drumming on top and it has a Lost In The Sound Of Separation flair all of a sudden. Put a smile on my face, same with the riffing on Shame, again, and on Spinning In Place (which sounds like the evil sibling to Coming Down Is Calming Down to my ears).
Something about Cannibal's second half is messing with my head, it's like it's missing a part or a transition, a drum fill (?). I love that it's very reminiscent of the climax in A Fault Line, a Fault of Mine but the way it just goes from the mellow bridge to the wall of guitars without a build up... idk
finishing my fourth listen. way too early to rank this, but every listen just gets better and better. i'm very impressed, and i wasn't expecting to be a few months ago, so that says a lot
Stoked to spin this tomorrow. Listened to Voyeurist a couple of days ago and it really has an excellent groove to it all the way through. I still haven’t listened to Erase Me.
I don't want to compare this album to Erase Me because it's really not that similar to it but I get the feeling that this album will be similarly polarizing. Overall, I do like it quite a bit on the first two listens but I also entirely understand why this album won't land for some people
I totally see where this will be polarizing, but I respect it. That was a fun listen. I’m looking forward to going back to it tomorrow
This album has been just... utterly fascinating to me. Not in a bad way or a good way necessarily either. The creation of the music has been chaotic (the scrapped album/kicking James out), the rollout of the album has been chaotic (the constant information/music leaks, Locus Ultra, and those damn delayed 30% off vinyl discounts), and the music itself is just chaotic. The band sounds like a clunky mix of classic Underoath, Bring Me the Horizon, and Code Orange. None of these songs seem like they should work on paper, but they're barely held together by an hardened fearlessness and an unwavering determination to see the band's artistic pursuit carried through. I don't know where it will land for me, but I respect the experiment.
the master on the studio version hit me in a way the originally released version didn't (the one you could hear by scanning a QR code at their shows). it's really good