Underoath - Cries of the Past (2000)^{Release ID: 5403}

The second Underoath album Cries of the Past is associated with black metal, and that makes sense because of the influence from that genre in the instrumentation, vocals, and the progressive track lengths (longer than any of the band's songs in the albums after this one). However, I don't think that's the kind of direction the band wanted to take. Even back then, their Christian metalcore/post-hardcore sound was dominant with the black metal influences being secondary. And yeah, I know there are Christian black metal bands out there (unblack metal, if you will), but Underoath has never explicitly been part of that style. That's why I made that Hall entry for this album.

Anyway, Underoath is one of the most popular metalcore bands today that fans of the genre absolutely love. However, some people don't want them in this universe. I'm definitely in the former category, being a fan of metalcore/post-hardcore. Anyone who thinks Underoath is too hardcore should give their first two albums a listen. They emphasized the METAL in metalcore! Their debut Act of Depression was good but too preachy and annoying at times. Luckily, Cries of the Past, is a greater improvement!

I love the first song, ironically called "The Last", blasting your speakers with actual guitar riffs that are now distant memories for the band. I'm talking about legit riffing of heavy/thrash/black/death metal mixed with the usual hardcore elements. Keyboards finally enter the instrumentation arsenal, performed by Christopher Dudley, staying with the band since then, the longest without leaving. This really adds the melodic black metal vibe similar to early Satyricon. Christian references are still around, such as in the acoustic outro of "Giving Up Hurts the Most", though that part's quite cringe-inducing. I really try to ignore that ending.

A better example of an acoustic break is in "Walking Away", in more beautiful execution, to break up long heavy passages to make sure they aren't boring, while staying not too long itself so they wouldn't be boring as well. "And I Dreamt of You" is the longest song of the album and by the band, at over 11 minutes, a record this band will never break. I gotta say, this is my favorite Underoath song from that era. The melodic guitar playing far near the 4 and a half minute mark is so sick and cool with leads playing over breakdowns that would otherwise be too fast for a breakdown. Some of the lyrics can be very poetic, a more subtle and less obvious improvement compared to Act of Depression (especially that preachy atrocity, "Burden in Your Hands"). Now that's a black/death-ish metalcore epic like no other!

However, there's still one more song left, the title track. The spoken-word intro starts sinister, but then sounds a little too emo. That narration and the lyrics detail a car crash that killed someone's girlfriend. Sadly two of the band's members would each end up in their own vehicle crashes. One crash incapacitated Dallas Taylor with a brain injury and he later needed eye surgery. The other crash took the life of guitarist Corey Steger, a year before this review. This was the last song he performed with the band. RIP

Of the two albums from Underoath's extreme past, Cries of the Past is a better deal than their debut Act of Depression. I would recommend this to anyone wanting a good taste of this band's heavier past....

Favorites: "The Last", "Walking Away", "And I Dreamt of You"