Review: Underoath – The Place After This One

March 25, 2025

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And now for something completely different. I’m willing to admit that I was never into the whole metalcore and screamo wave that dominated the mid to late 2000’s, not helped by how seemingly inescapable that whole style was during that time. Underoath is a name I’ve only been familiar with in passing, be it their widely publicized reunion, or the usual memes about “LOL Christian metalcore,” even though the band have long since distanced themselves from their religion ever since their reunion.

Suffice to say, I was curious to see how a longstanding metalcore band who have been acclaimed in their scene for an ever-evolving and eclectic sound, stand today in the year of our lord 2025 with their latest full-length, The Place After This One. Well, for one the band didn’t waste any time, as the album opens with ‘Generation No Surrender’ which is a loud and bombastic slab of metalcore with industrial flourishes in the form of effects and synths. The band themselves have stated that they were actively inspired by electronica acts such as The Prodigy and Chemical Brothers, and from what I also looked up while preparing for this review, the band has extensively used synths and keys since at least their second album, so this isn’t that much of a departure.

That being said, the band openly admitting that they leaned on electronic music for this record makes sense because after the opening track, the rest of the album swerves hard into being, for lack of a better term, electro metal. Make no mistake, this is still the band’s brand of metalcore, chugging riffs, catchy choruses, switching from harsh screamo vocals into more melodic singing, electronics for texture, ambiance and emphasis, plus some female backing vocals. In some areas this album reminds me of the type of J-rock you’d hear in anime openings, which either really works, or feels kinda cheesy.

This brings me to my gripes. Now, I’m not really into modern metalcore, I frankly missed that train when it was chugging along and it never really attracted or intrigued me beyond the occasional social media post about it. And even in my adult age, it’s still not a style I gravitate towards; nevertheless, I’m not one to write off or dismiss stuff I don’t click with, but even admitting that, listening to this album left me with a horrible sense of whiplash. The aforementioned first track to me is one of the best: it was a perfect blend of aggressive modern metalcore with the electronic music elements and female vocals feeling natural. The rest of the album, though? I said electro metal, and even go as far and say “rave” metal because this record is TOO danceable. The band do try to inject as much brutality and aggression as they can, but when those electronica choruses and bass synths come in, all the grit vanishes, and it feels so cobbled together.

The very short lengths of the songs also don’t work for me because they end too abruptly. I get the feeling that when the songs are about to crescendo or the basic idea is presented to be further explored, the song ends. Also—and I hate being that guy, and don’t want to accuse the band of anything—I can’t help but think that the very short songs, and hard pivot into electronica with very obvious pop choruses is an attempt to make the songs trendy for TikTok, or follow the format of making short songs with a catchy hook to be used in social media. Not saying it is the case, but the songwriting and arrangements, whether intentionally or as a byproduct of the band’s incorporation of electronic music, feels too simplistic. Again, not saying that the intention is to appeal to TikTok, but there is the sense of a formula being followed, and the bulk of the songs end up sounding very interchangeable between all the bouncing electronica rhythms, chugga-chugga riffs and chromatic grooves.

Furthermore, this is where my actual bias does rear its ugly head, but I cannot stand the way vocalist Spencer Chamberlain switches from his harsh screams into clean vocals, which is made worse when they have filters and effects. I know this is part of their style and I can at least say that Chamberlain does have a unique range and his vocals for one are easy to understand, but yeah, this really isn’t my cup of tea.

I can respect the band for wanting to experiment and do something off-kilter but the actual execution and attempts at being eclectic end up feeling overwrought and sterile-sounding. I won’t harp too much on how everything sounds programmed and artificial because a) it’s by design, electronic music and all that, and b) complaining about modern metalcore sounding over-produced or polished is like complaining about a black metal demo sounding too unpolished and raw. Regardless, despite my issues and gripes, the album does close off in a good way; the final track is, in my opinion, the best display of the band’s electronic music leanings. It’s a morose but catchy mid-paced, piano and bass-led track where the guitars and synths create the textures, and Chamberlain’s clean vocals work better here; his emotive singing meshes very well with a sorrowful ballad. I do have to admit how weird it is to listen to an album where the songs I enjoyed the most are the first and last but it happens.

I do wonder if I would’ve enjoyed this album more if instead of trying to blend rave music with metalcore, they’d have focused more on hard-hitting metalcore with industrial noise, and more melody and atmosphere-driven songs. From what I understand they’ve done this in the past, and have a post-metal record, so one positive thing I can hold onto is going out and checking their back catalog to see if their other records are more to my liking.

To close off, while I may have not enjoyed this record that much, I do have to give the band props for still experimenting with their sound and not recycling themselves for the sake of cashing-in, even if the final product has the signifiers of current trends.