BEST THIRD RELEASE 2006 Award Winner!
Runners-Up: NONE.
As evidenced by its incredible first-week sales (it debuted at #2 on the Billboard chart), for the modern Screamo genre, Underoath’s third release is a hit. Frontman Spencer Chamberlain’s range has greatly expanded from that of their previous CD (he can now scream from his original high- and medium-range all the way down to near Metal-style territory); and the music itself has improved and expanded as well. You also hear a good amount of vocals from drummer/singer Aaron Gillespie.
“In Regards To Myself” opens the album, and it wastes no time— the vocals are heavy right off the bat. The track’s lyrics begin dark, introverted, and depressed, but eventually morph into a hopeful “…it’s not too late for you” final verse and bridge.
“A Moment Suspended In Time” warns that you never know when the end is coming.
“There Could Be Nothing After This” describes a search for something truly fulfilling.
“You’re Ever So Inviting” has a short intro (actually at the end of the previous track) that’s surprisingly mellow. Of course, that is suddenly shattered not too long afterwards. This song is fairly different musically, and features a lot of vocal variety besides the screaming. It flows into the next track without a pause.
“Salmarnir” is semi-instrumental. It begins slightly suspenseful, then turns intriguing; some monk-like speaking in another language appears in the right speaker, followed by a simultaneous sound clip of a live English-language speech in the left. It also flows into the next track.
“Returning Empty Handed” has very dynamic music; and during the bridge near the end Aaron Gillespie sings, and even Spencer mostly sings a line or two, before continuing the normal screamed vocals.
The long intro to “Casting Such A Thin Shadow” (which begins at the end of the previous track and then carries on into this one) very slowly and continuously builds. By itself, this combined intro is an excellent rock instrumental. Several minutes into this, the vocals (which are actually a double singing/screaming combo by Spencer until his totally-screamed chorus) smoothly and naturally slide in, and also slide smoothly out at the track’s close.
“Moving For The Sake Of Motion” goes back to a fast pace with again-quite-dynamic music.
“Writing On The Walls” contains a lot of vocal variety, and the bridge is perfectly sung by a dark chorus of voices, the final screamed lyrics slamming in just after.
“Everyone Looks So Good From Here”, all screaming, has a heavily rhythmic chorus. About halfway through the track, the pace begins to slow down… and it intriguingly continues to slow more and more until near the end, where it suddenly snaps back up to speed.
The final track “To Whom It May Concern” begins with another fairly mellow (and very good) intro, which slides naturally into an echoing, sung chorus of voices. The music seems to fade off after this, as if it were done, but Spencer then leaps back in with some sudden screams and the song continues. And lyrically, this track’s final message ends the album with hope.
Limited Edition DVD Bonus Features:
Well, first— to get this out of the way— the DVD contains a 15-minute Easter Egg, which is basically a home interview with some guy who entertains conspiracy theories and claims he’s seen military UFO’s at Area 51. We have no idea what the point of including this was; but oh well.
Anyway, the first official feature is the 21-minute “Movie”, which is a very funny and interesting behind-the-scenes making-of; and the other is the much-less-interesting 2-minute “Making Of The Album Art”, which briefly shows where they went to shoot the promo photos and etc.