Album Review: Underoath – The Place After This One (MNRK Heavy)
Underoath, the iconic metal band, renowned for their unrelenting integrity and authenticity, are back with their brand-new album, ‘The Place After This One’. It will be released on March 28th, 2025, via MNRK Heavy.
On the form of their freaking lives, which is seriously saying something when you consider their back-catalogue, Underoath have found a near-perfect balance of expected heavy sounds with unexpected experimental sounds, and all the proof anyone needs is on this album. This substantial modern concoction of noise that is filled with vitality and fuelled by passion. An album to lose your mind too, but not without thought-provoking aspects and emotional depth.
It’s anthemic intensity from the start with the manic energy of Generation No Surrender, before Devil exposes the varied underbelly of this album with a more experimental take on modern metal and melody. Don’t ever accuse this band of stagnating, even if the effect-heaviness of it all might not be to everyone’s taste.
Do you know what is to everyone’s taste though? Underoath delivering a staggering amount of hardcore-infused excitable energy and passion with Loss. Underoath delivering alt-tinged and chorus driven efforts like Survivor’s Guilt. Or even Underoath delivering vibrant epics like All the Love is Gone, with its pugnacious breakdown, and the stompy mean groove of And Then There Was Nothing. The latter of those two is a personal favourite as I do enjoy a bit of Underoath when they get in my face.
The first half of the album certainly delivers a ton of memorable music, and again, it can’t be stressed enough that what we’re hearing is a band that continues to evolve. It just so happens that it comes with so much heavy and anthemic flair.
So, unsurprisingly, the second half doesn’t change a winning formula. Underoath managing to sound heavier and more melodic than ever with Shame. The contrast of this track is startling, and again, the electronica is a bit egregious, but this is a really strong example of how well Underoath combine different genres to create something wholly unique to them. It’s one of the album’s more accessible heavy tracks.
Do you prefer more melody and electronica though? Teeth is this, but be warned, there is also some noisy metal bits here too. Whereas Spinning in Place is downright infectious with its relentless showcase of melody and metal, just another Underoath anthem, of course.
How about a guest though? An unexpected, but not unwelcome one, it’s Mastodon’s Troy Sanders who joins Underoath on the beastly Vultures. The freaking chorus of this one slays.
Finally, and so damn satisfyingly, it’s Cannibal and Outsider, Underoath still finding new levels of creativity to sink to with even more extraordinary genre-bending music. Everything about this band, and then some, wrapped up in a combination of powerful listens. If there was any doubts remaining about Underoath’s progression, those are well and truly banished by the end.
Always setting trends, always moving forward, The Place After This One is an interesting and clever release that just enhances Underoath’s iconic status even more.
Underoath – The Place After This One Track Listing:
1. Generation No Surrender
2. Devil
3. Loss
4. Survivor’s Guilt
5. All The Love Is Gone
6. And Then There Was Nothing
7. Shame
8. Teeth
9. Spinning In Place
10. Vultures (feat. Troy Sanders)
11. Cannibal
12. Outsider
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Underoath - The Place After This One (MNRK Heavy)
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The Final Score - 8.5/10
8.5/10
