It’s hard to believe that over a year has passed since Underoath released Voyeurist, an album that found the band once again exploring their heavier side via their first venture into self-production. Despite a full touring cycle in 2022 in support of the album, the band is on the road again – and appears to have a collection of new songs on the horizon. New track “Let Go” debuted just before the Blind Obedience Tour kicked off last week.
The band’s Indianapolis stop at the Egyptian Room at Old National Centre saw support from progressive metal bands Loathe and Periphery. My first personal exposure to Loathe came after their cover story in Metal Hammer last year, and I was delighted to hear the band’s wide range of sounds and explorations. Vocalist Kadeem France can at once be delicate in his delivery or bring the house down with a roar. The Liverpool quartet relied heavily on their breakthrough 2020 release, I Let It In and It Took Everything, ripping through a seven-song set.
My introduction to Periphery came in real time and I found myself unprepared. The band’s set consisted of just four songs, but opener “Reptile” clocked in at over 16 minutes with the other three tracks pushing towards 10 each. Each song ebbed and flowed effortlessly seeming to transition between genres multiple times over. Spencer Sotelo’s range as a vocalist is something to behold, but truly, the band’s driving force comes from guitarists Misha Mansoor and Jake Bowen, who use their instruments to create worlds within the sound. Periphery’s latest album, Periphery V: Djent is Not a Genre, dropped on Friday – I highly recommend checking it out.
The night marked my 11th time seeing Underoath live, which means I’ve seen just about every song performed live. Even so, the band always finds ways to drop a few curveballs into their setlist, this time in the form of “Down, Set, Go” from They’re Only Chasing Safety (a song I hadn’t seen them perform) and the surprising inclusion of “Illuminator” from Disambiguation, an album they haven’t fully explored since their reunion in 2016.
At this point, Underoath know how to play the hits, none of which are left unplayed for an audience who was eager to eat up every moment. It’s amazing to see how much weight older tracks like “It’s Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door” and “A Boy Brushed Red, Living in Black and White” still hold, but the crowd was more than happy to sing along to every word.
The set also included “Let Go”, which is a nice mash-up of the heavier and more melodic sounds the band have created with their last two albums, respectively. With more music apparently on the way, Underoath are just as alive as ever as they approach the 20th anniversary of their core lineup.
by Kiel Hauck
Kiel Hauck is the editor in chief at It’s All Dead. Over the past decade, he has been a contributor for multiple online and print publications and was most recently an editor at PopMatters. Kiel currently resides in Indianapolis, IN with his wife and their imaginary pet, Hand Dog. You can follow him on Twitter.
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