On May 27, Tampa Florida Christian metalcore band Underoath will release their new live CD and DVD “Survive, Kaleidoscope.” But that’s not what guitarist Tim McTague is most stoked about. Just last week, the band finished the final tracking for their yet-untitled upcoming album, which is scheduled for release September 2. And judging by everything McTague told Headbangersblog.com it seems likely to be the record to break Underoath out of the metalcore and Christian rock ghettos and earn them respect as a creative, impassioned and original rock outfit.
Click “more” to read what MTVnews.com has to say about the music and to hear our exclusive podcast interview:
Not that the new album’s gonna sound like Radiohead or Deathcab For Cutie or anything. It’s heavy and dynamic and not that far of a stretch from anything they’ve previously done. It’s just considerably better. MTVnews.com recently described it as “furiously paced, with lots of layers and almost Nine Inch Nails-esque spooky electronic effects. Several of the songs were anthemic, feedback-filled numbers that build slowly to their thunderous, ear-splitting crescendos, and there were breakdowns aplenty. Chamberlain’s vocals are intense, passionate and sounding better than ever over the shredding guitars. Aaron Gillespie’s adroit drum-pummeling adds even more fury and force to the tracks, which are sprinkled with blistering, steely guitar solos. The songs — which, at times, stop and start on a dime effortlessly — sounded huge and unpredictable, never really heading in those directions you might expect. It’s also clear that the band wanted to experiment this time around, injecting almost prog-like elements here and there.”
The 11 songs on the disc were written over a two year period and then recorded in March and April with Killswitch Engage guitarist/producer Adam Dutkiewicz, who also worked on the band’s last record, 2006’s Define the Great Line.
Underoath will gear up for the release of the new album with an appearance on the Rockstar Energy Mayhem tour, which also featured Slipknot, Disturbed, Mastodon, Dragonforce, Suicide Silence and others. During our podcast interview with McTague, the guitarist was eager to talk about how their label convinced them to record a live CD and DVD, what they were striving for on their upcoming record and why they decided to join the Rockstar Energy Mayhem tour even though they hate Disturbed, Dragonforce and pretty much everyone on the bill but Slipknot and Mastodon. McTague also addressed why Underoath have only played two headlining tours in their career, how they’d love to tour with Thursday on their next headlining run and how Dutkiewicz crapped his pants in the studio — for the second time in a row.
Here’s a stream of the interview:
Click here for a direct MP3 download of the Headbangersblog.com podcast interview with Underoath guitarist Tim McTague.
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And if you haven’t already checked it out, watch our blood-dripping video footage of Underoath drummer Aaron Gillespie getting his thumb slashed open in an emergency room in Las Vegas. Gnarly!:
