About Underoath

Underoath (sometimes typeset as underOATH or UNDERØATH) is an American Grammy Award-nominated metalcore band originally formed in 1997 in Ocala, Florida.  The band’s line-up consists entirely of Christian members.

After several line-up changes, Underøath’s only original member is drummer Aaron Gillespie. During the band’s early years, when they were fronted by former vocalist Dallas Taylor, Underøath displayed a more deathcore sound with their music, with the exception of clean vocals, and the usage of double-bass drums and breakdowns. With Taylor, they released Act of Depression (1999), Cries of the Past (2000), and The Changing of Times (2002). Following his departure, Spencer Chamberlain became lead vocalist. The band then released They’re Only Chasing Safety (2004) and Define the Great Line (2006), gaining a certified gold rating and the highest-charting Christian album on The Billboard 200 since 1997, respectively. These two albums have given them more mainstream and commercial success.

"We went into the studio wanting to make Degine the Great Line a record that counts," says guitarist Tim McTague. "We wanted to make it life-changing for the people who heard it. We knew it had the potential to do well, but we weren't basing our future on that. We feel we've written the best album that any of us will probably ever be a part of and above all else, we're super proud of it."

"We didn't want to take the normal approach, with just two guitar tracks, drum tracks, vocal tracks or whatever," McTague explains. "We really made an effort to expand in our minds about what Underoath could do." To which founding kitman Aaron Gillespie adds, "We couldn't be happier. When I look back on the time we spent on this album, I don't think we would have done anything different."

"We wanted to provoke a lot of thought lyrically and musically," McTague continues. "We didn't want it to be a record that you put in and you're instantly hooked because those records fall off. Catchy hooks seem cool for about a week, but then--when you're sick of it, you realize there is no substance. You can throw the record away. We'd rather be a band like Refused, At The Drive-In or Glassjaw, where you listen to it and you like it but you don't really get it immediately. But you keep listening to it and all the little pieces come into focus."

The band's next studio album called Lost in the Sound of Separation, was released on September 2, 2008, and peaked at number 8 on the Billboard 200.

Perhaps McTague puts it best when he talks about the real rewards of being in one of the biggest genre- defining bands today.  "For me, the kids that we meet at shows who come up to us and tell us, 'I was going to kill myself and then I heard this song of yours that changed my life around spiritually.' Or even the one who said, 'I had no one to turn to when my parents divorced, but your record got me through it.' That's what it's all about for me."