Underneath the Gun - Forfeit Misfortunes
Release Date: January 20, 2009
Record Label: Ferret Records
Underneath the Gun have apparently been working together since they were twelve years old. In theory, that means that by the time they've matured, signed a deal, and everything else, they should be comfortable having played with one another for at least 4 or 5 years. I mean, how many metalcore bands are playing when they're twelve years old? How many twelve-year-old's even listen to metalcore? In a genre where bands die out daily, there's something to be said for their determination.
As I said, a band that's been together for this long should know what they're good at, and stick to it. There are many places where this seems to be the idea; that is, the arrangements seem like they're pretty tight and the vocals seem to mesh well with the instrumentation. They're still a young band, however, and there are plenty of places where you can see that emulated in their sound as well.
The biggest example of this, in my opinion, is the fairly underdeveloped vocal structuring. I'm a huge fan of mixing it up, which they do, but they rely on one vocal device a bit too much. Which device, you might ask? It's the switch-up between the raspier screams and growling. In many places they use these to great avail, but there are just a few places where they seem to do the whole scream-growl-scream-growl combo just a bit too often (this is most notable in the first song, actually). However, I do love that they keep switching it up, keeping the raspy screaming throughout most of it, and resorting to stressed clean vocals and growls when they need emphasis.
The instrumentation works well too, and if there's one thing you can see, it's that they're not afraid to play what they want to play. These days, any band playing this type of brutal metalcore catches flack for every powerchord and breakdown they use. Listening to a track like "Looking Deep In Shallow Water," which happens to be one of the most entertaining on the album, you can see that they're obviously intent on playing what they enjoy, not what's acceptable or hip. The instrumentation takes on a few different faces throughout the album. It never gets excessively heavy (which is a good thing), but they can make it hit hard enough when the time calls for it. They switch this up by incorporating segues, particularly in the pre-choruses and bridges, that have a much more atmospheric and melodic feel to them. This concept has a variety of uses, but the one that they seem to utilize most often is its ability to make their tracks seem uplifting throughout the rest of the discord.
Among their seamlessly violent screaming and overall disregard for that beast known as "melody," their lyrics actually carry an uplifting message. Many of them are faith based, and they don't have a problem conveying their religion through their songs. For the most part though, these lyrics are fairly incomprehensible. The few places they peek through, however, you can hear that they do, in fact, carry a message that is befitting of their religion.
Overall, while this may be a tad repetitive in places, and is a bit on the played-out side, Underneath the Gun find a way to keep it somewhat fresh and entertaining throughout Forfeit Misfortunes. Fans of the metalcore genre will dig this, and people that can't stand the genre will stay just that way. These guys have quite a bit of talent judging from their sound, and from the determination they've shown so far, I'm predicting that they'll just continue to get better with age.
The rating's a bit high, I think, but the review is good. I didn't know they've been playing together since they were that young though; that's interesting.
For some reason Last.fm says this is deathcore, and I've heard a bunch of people call this band/album deathcore.
Other than the low growls (like the ones in the first song) and the fact they have breakdowns, this really doesn't sound like deathcore to me. I would say it's just metalcore. Either way, this is a pretty good album and I enjoyed listening to it.
For some reason Last.fm says this is deathcore, and I've heard a bunch of people call this band/album deathcore.
Other than the low growls (like the ones in the first song) and the fact they have breakdowns, this really doesn't sound like deathcore to me. I would say it's just metalcore. Either way, this is a pretty good album and I enjoyed listening to it.
This is a lot tamer than their previous stuff from what I gather.
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