"Underoath - Define The Great Line" I'm Not the Biggest Screamo Fan

    I'm not going to lie and pretend like I know anything about this band other than the fact that some people consider them Christian rock? My friend CJ seems to like them though and I liked what little songs I've previewed. Will it be better than other post-hardcore records from bands like Alexisonfire or Dance Gavin Dance? That range is pretty large so I'm going to say probably not. I also have schoolwork to worry about so frankly without further ado my track-by-track review.

Define The Great Line - Underoath

In Regards To Myself - 60/100 Kind of wish the ratio of rough to clean vocals was weighted more in the favour of clean vocals because the very few times they're present I think I enjoy them a decent bit. Not to say I don't completely enjoy the rough vocals on this track, I do enjoy that they're still guttural yet pretty easy to understand. Overall, I don't think I'm too crazy about this track but its fine enough.

A Moment Suspended In Time - 75/100 See this song is what I'd much rather prefer. It's still about 50/50 rough and clean vocals, but at the very least the clean vocals feel less of an afterthought, and with solid enough guitar work I can enjoy this song more. To be honest though as someone who does enjoy screaming I've never enjoyed it enough to like songs where they just scream. I've always be60en more of a 60/40- 70/40 when it came to what ratio I prefer of clean to harsh vocals.

There Could Be Nothing After This - 70/100 Maybe the mostly rough vocals are growing on me I think I'm beginning to appreciate them more like in this song, though I will admit this album is certainly not the most creative instrumentally.

You've Ever So Inviting - 80/100 Finally, a song I'd actually probably relisten to. I do wonder what would happen if I re-listened to this entire album after warming myself to the post-hardcore/screamo sound. Though of course it could always have the adverse effect and make me become more tired/weary of the sound quicker and make me rate albums worse.

Salmarnir - N/A This is an interlude I am not rating this track I have no idea what is being said. I just read what it translates to maybe it was better I ignore this track.

Returning Empty Handed - 40/100 Yeah this song reminds me of whenever I try and get into/listen to the band Knocked Loose. Like it doesn't sound bad, I don't mind it, but I just don't enjoy it because its all rough vocals? Not saying I can't enjoy songs that are largely rough vocals, but this song just isn't for me and instrumentally it isn't interesting me enough to really get into the track. Probably doesn't help that the track is four minutes long so by the end I'm just kind of awkwardly waiting for it to end.

Casting Such A Thin Shadow - 60/100 Ultimately an enjoyable track for me, especially instrumentally once it really picks up its pace, which I've felt this album has struggled to do for me so far. Though I must admit the slow build up is a pretty hard sell in my eyes which makes it harder to give this song any higher score.

Moving For The Sake Of Motion - 80/100 I'm not saying I only like fast tracks, but the hit rate for them is significantly higher than slow tracks it can feel like sometimes. Once again I am also seeing a positive correlation between the amount I like a track and the amount of clean vocals it has. 

Writing On The Walls - 80/100 This is the most popular track off of the album and also the song I said I previewed so I'm not surprised I enjoyed this song. It doesn't exactly hit me out of the park, but it continues to use the same formula for songs by Underoath that I actually enjoy, which is why I am not saying much about this song.

Everyone Looks So Good From Here - 40/100 Remember what I said about Returning Empty Handed? Apply that same exact logic to this song.

To Whom It May Concern - 75/100 This track is seven minutes long so it will be fighting an uphill battle, but surely it can't be as bad as the last track was, right? Well I stand correct this track was actually quite enjoyable good job Underoath.

Final Score: 66/100

        It was an uphill battle for Underoath coming into it, and I'll have to admit it did well considering what it is. Screamo, or albums/songs that are largely just rough vocals have never been particularly anything I enjoyed. Perhaps I'll find something that hooks me one day, but for now the genre is not for me. I've always considered screaming to be more of a side dish to the main meal of music for me. I'll order it and I do enjoy it, but to have it as the main attraction has never been particularly appealing, or anything I actually wanted in my music. Even still, I did like a decent percentage of the tracks on this album, so it's not like I'm a lot cause when it comes to music that has screaming, it's just a longshot really.

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