LOS ANGELES (Tooth & Nail/Solid
State Records) - Coming off their 350,000-selling 2004 indie smash They're Only Chasing Safety disc, UNDERØATH return June 20 with the genre-defying DEFINE THE GREAT LINE, their third album on Seattle's Tooth & Nail/Solid
State Records.
Mayhem and melody, catharsis and experimentation-UNDEROATH deftly bring it all together here.
Catapulting them far beyond their previous works to create a sound that's both epic and intimate, UNDERØATH deliver one highlight after another including "Casting Such A Thin Shadow," "In Regards To Myself" and the haunting first single "Writing On The Walls."
The band-lead vocalist SPENCER CHAMBERLAIN, guitarist TIM MCTAGUE, bassist GRANT BRANDELL, drummer AARON GILLESPIE, keyboardist CHRISTOPHER DUDLEY and guitarist JAMES SMITH-just arrived in Sweden to shoot two videos with the avant-garde production team Popcore Films (Cult of Luna, >From First To Last "The Latest Plague"). Director Anders Forsman is helming the "Writing On The Walls" clip, while director Linus Johansson will lens the video for "In Regards To Myself." Meawhile, look for UNDERØATH to host MTV2's "Headbangers Ball" on the show airing Saturday, June 3.
In touring news, UNDERØATH will head to the U.K. to play the Give It A Name Festival April 29-30 in London and Manchester. Next up, the band will perform at the Bamboozle Festival in East Rutherford, NJ on Sunday, May 7 before launching their U.S. headlining tour with Poison The Well, As Cities Burn and Spitfire supporting. For the May 15 New Orleans stop at the House Of Blues, the band will donate all of their share of the proceeds to benefit Common Grounds*, which restores homes for Katrina Victims in the Ninth Ward. In addition, there will be a table at the show so kids can learn more about how to help with hurricane relief. Then UNDERØATH will hit the road as one of the headlining main stage acts on the Vans Warped Tour all summer long from June 15-August 13.
"We didn't want to take the normal approach, with just two guitar tracks, drum tracks, vocal tracks or whatever," guitarist TIM explains about the making of DEFINE THE GREAT LINE. "We made an effort to expand in our minds what UNDERØATH could do."
The disc was crafted with the help of Atlanta-based producer/drummer Matt Goldman-who helped pour the rhythmic foundation-and Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz, who lent his experience to help capture the guitars and vocals and encouraged these Warped Tour veterans to use E-Bows, reel bows and experiment with delays and effects pedals. As a result, DEFINE THE GREAT LINE is a mind-blowing and cohesive album and, while marking an artistically dark turn for the band, it remains undeniably accessible.
"I like how broad it is," says lead vocalist SPENCER about the album's title. "DEFINE THE GREAT LINE can be interpreted so many different ways. It's just an imaginary line that I try to balance myself on to be the best person I can be."
