In a world free of vinyl shortage due to the pandemic and Adele, Underoath’s latest album Voyeurist would have been well into its release cycle. Originally slated for October of 2021, the release was pushed back to this January to allow vinyl copies to ship the same time as the album’s release. With the turn of the year now upon us, Underoath’s follow up to their 2018 release Erase Me is a brief moment away. A longer cycle leading up to release has resulted in five of the ten tracks from Voyeurist being released as singles, with closing tracks “Numb” and “Pneumonia” unveiled alongside “Cycle” which features Ghostemane. With these tracks Underoath have demonstrated their new, dynamic, abrasive and visceral sound.
Opener “Damn Excuses” quickly shows off that Underoath aren’t going to be pulling any punches with Voyeurist’s heavier moments. The delivery from vocalist Spencer Chamberlain on the chorus “Fuck your revelation and fuck your weak conviction, I am finally exposing the truth.” has a potent anger to it that is rarely seen from the unit. The shortest track on the album sinks adrenaline into the ears and begins to waver concerns fans may have had that this Voyeurist would lack bite like previous release Erase Me did. More melodic moments are offered up with follow up “Hallelujah“, where it’s difficult to not find yourself chanting along to the lyrics of “Cut the lights, face yourself. We’re not dreaming, this is hell“. All this is intertwined with some airy vocal melodies and pounding snare that give Voyeurist its strong start to its ten-track journey.
A brief respite is given on the first half of “I’m Pretty Sure I’m Out Of Luck and Have No Friends” with sampled phone calls among synth chords opening. Acting as an almost half-interlude and half-track, the closing moments show the return of the pummeling sound heard in opener “Damn Excuses“. Voyeurist returns to full swing with the aforementioned “Cycle” featuring Ghostemane. It becomes quickly evident that the standout moment here will be vocalist/drummer Aaron Gillespie, with the rudiments on the first minute striking the ear and later the crashing cymbals on the grooves giving the track its punch. The feature closes out the track and, in a way, takes away from the track. It forces “Cycle” to overstay its welcome and the vocal performance form Ghostemane does little to add anything to the track.
In Voyeurist‘s midpoint, the pace is taken aback with “Thorn” and full interludes “(No Oasis)“. With the former offering the sound that feels more familiar to what would have been heard on Erase Me, but with the sharper edge that Voyeurist brings. As enjoyable as it is, the lyricism and all-too-familiar structure takes the track through its indifferent motions. The interlude here in the wider context of the album feels somewhat early here, and would have been better placed ahead of the closing two tracks. The huge guitars on “Take A Breath” shake Voyeurist back into full swing, however, despite being difficult to find any overbearing faults with this track, it lacks any standout moments to differentiate to what has already been heard.
Entering the final stretch are the trio of tracks; “We’re All Gonna Die“, “Numb” and “Pneumonia“. Despite the first of three feeling like a slight rehash of what has already been heard across several tracks on the album, the final two arguably stand as Underoath‘s strongest moments in their recent discography. The blend of the rudiment on the snare and following fill, with the ear-catching cleans and reverbed guitar make for a deeply enjoyable listen. The bridge and breakdown on the latter half of the track gives Voyeurist its most ethereal moments. The vocal performance on “Explain the weight that’s tied around my neck tied, I’m losing all faith and it’s pulling me apart” is the most moving moment on the record. The closing track “Pneumonia” fills its opening moments with weightless vocals backed by a sweet guitar hook, as the delicate atmosphere teased by moments in “Numb” goes into full force. Gillespie’s paced drumming breaks the spell and the track amps up, returning Voyeurist‘s to its ingrained fury for its closing moments. While perhaps feeling a bit too similar to “I’m Pretty Sure I’m Out Of Luck and Have No Friends“, “Pneumonia” is fitting closer to an album where it feels like Underoath have finally found their feet with their new sound.
It will be difficult for Underoath as a band to escape comparisons of their earlier work, with listeners harking back to the days of They’re Only Chasing Safety and Define The Great Line. The standout moments in “Numb” and “Damn Excuses” will hopefully begin to ease these comparisons and fully push Underoath as a unit into a new era. It is natural as listeners to anchor to past albums, and the six-piece could have easily retread their old sound, but instead they have continued to expand their sound in a new direction. While there are still some teething issues with this new sound, those who showed the patience to stick with the group after Erase Me will be rewarded with what Voyeurist has to offer up.
Voyeurist will be available next Friday, January 14th via Fearless Records, and you can pre-order the album here.
7.5/10