Review: Underoath, Juggernauts of Playstation Theater

Underoath’s legacy in metalcore needs absolutely no introduction. For 21 years, the band has experienced some amazing highs and some serious lows. But, there’s no denying the impact the band has made with metalcore. 2004’s They’re only Chasing Saftey & 2006’s Defy the Great Line are textbook examples of how modern metalcore should sound like. To this day, no other modern band has been able to rectify the sound that Underoath has started. In recent times Underoath has been rising up again with a string of successful comeback tours after reforming in 2015 and have recently released a new album called “Erase Me”. To find out that the Erase Me Tour was coming back to New York City’s PlayStation Theater was an absolute must see for me, especially if you love metalcore. Along for the ride on this lineup is Dance Gavin Dance, Crown the Empire and The Plot in You. Definitely a lineup I did not want to miss seeing.

Underoath’s live presentations are incredibly top notch. The flashing lights and vibrant colors make you feel like you’re not just part of a concert, you’re part of a different world. The band has not been slowing down at all since they made their reform and its such an amazing thing to see. Screamer Spencer Chamberlain is such a sight to behold. No matter what song you hear live, be prepared for intensity. The screams of anguish and despair that this man pulls live is just wonderful. Then, drummer Aaron Gillespie pounds away on some intense rhythm sections while providing some angelic cleans for the audience. Underoath’s chemistry is such a great live performance and you can truly see that from the songs they play. The anguished guitar riffs and jumpy keyboards add to the flair this band has offer. Mosh Pits took up the whole middle ground on the floor as well, with many fans bouncing around and going insane to the Post Hardcore grooves. The setlist was filled with plenty of hits that fans knew such as Writing on the Walls, In Regards to Myself, A Fault Line, a Fault of Mine, It’s Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door and much more. Plus, newer hits like On My Teeth, Ihateit and It Has to Start Somewhere all blend into the rest of Underoath’s post-hardcore sound. The newest album features a very Nine Inch Nails esque sound, which is super different from what the band has released before. But there is still plenty of the metalcore sound to be found here. “Erase Me” was Underoath’s first new album in 8 years and it’s great to see that they’ve come back stronger than ever. You’re getting a super solid setlist that features a great number of songs that will truly entertain you.

Dance Gavin Dance blends together the ultimate mix of both harshness and happiness. Featuring some extremely angry screams, but also some super happy vocals thrown in. This is a band that has the power to appeal to both mainstream audiences and hardcore fans. This vocal style is meshed together by Jon Mess & Tilian Pearson. As both frontmen equally get a superb amount of time to sing & scream their respect parts throughout the live shows. Dance Gavin Dance’s sound can be classified as Glassjaw meets the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Lots of catchy rock riffs thrown in, with a bunch of odd sounds that wouldn’t be out place in The Dillinger Escape Plan’s discography. The setlist Dance Gavin Dance played featured plenty of the newer hits like On the Run, Midnight Crusade, Summertime Gladness, Inspire the Liars and much more. The setlist definitely was more focused on the last three albums that came out, but a great set nonetheless. Fans took in the sound by slamming around at full force by making an extremely chaotic but a very happy mosh pit. All of Dance Gavin Dance’s live shows are so bouncy and energetic you sometimes forget it’s a metal show with the type of music that their playing.

Crown the Empire has somewhat explored uncharted waters with their current sound. As the band hasn’t fully decided if they want to go with a rock sound or the traditional metalcore sound. Their 2016 album “Retrograde” marked them to change for a more hard rock type of sound. However, this resulted in former vocalist David Escamilla leaving the band in early 2017 due to creative differences. Currently Andrew “Andy Leo” Velasquez is the main vocalist, as at one point CTE was a dual vocal band. But, even with that situation CTE has managed to continue on as a band and now they’re fully embracing the current sound that they will carry. The setlist featured many new songs including their newest single “20/20” as well as other songs like Machines, The Fallout & Zero. These songs are definitely great tracks to hype the crowd up. CTE definitely wants to you to get interested in their lyrics whenever you go see them live, as Andy does a good job at exciting the crowd. There’s definitely an interesting sound that this band follows and hopefully they’ll continue down that route with their next album.