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WE HAD A HUGE IDENTITY CRISIS,” explains Underoath vocalist Spencer Chamberlain of the rigid rules that led to the band’s 2013 breakup. While fans of faith may think the one-time Christian metalcore leaders are deeply confused, the band insist they’re happier than ever.
It’s a far cry from where Chamberlain spent much of his career, during which members “weren’t allowed to have different personalities.”
“The worst years of my life, the most miserable years of my life, the years I got treated the worst and was the most alone and made the most mistakes of my life, was when I was a quote-unquote Christian,” he says. “It was the hardest, most difficult time of my life, and that’s the opposite of what it’s supposed to be.”
News of the band distancing themselves from the Christian label ain’t new, but this is as brazen as they’ve ever been, referencing the disenchantment in press and, yes, even swearing.
He states it’s not an anger thing — some members still identify with the religion — though people’s concern with one’s use of a curse word is “one of the million problems” with it.
“We could be arguing about so much fucking cooler stuff than whether some guy says a word or not. Like, grow up.”
Beyond that, Underoath’s lyrics on new album, Erase Me, aren’t far off from the personal poetics they built their career on, though
“There’s not one fake thing on this record.”
the music also bucks a rule: their previous “that’s not Underoath enough” in-studio standard. Take the track “ihateit,” for example, which focuses more on calmer crescendos than chaotic calamity, like much of the album.
“At that point, I’m singing about how I was really confused for a long time if I was a drug addict or I just liked using drugs,” notes the singer, while revealing he’s been off them over a year now, the longest since he started touring. “I was like, ‘Dude, this sucks. I’m terrible, just erase me.’”
“There’s not one fake thing on this record. It’s all stuff that I actually personally lived through, and it about near killed me.”