Underoath - The Changing of Times (2002)^{Release ID: 5404}

After the extreme two-parter of Act of Depression and Cries of the Past, they really started changing their times in their 3rd album, and while their second album has great amounts of heaviness, The Changing of Times toned it down, but closer to the fantastic post-hardcore/metalcore I like from this band. This is for the open-minded!

The album title really fits well for a heavily different and slightly improved Underoath. The complexity, diversity, and breakdowns of Cries of the Past are all replaced with a streamline approach that works fine here but was ruined in their next album They're Only Chasing Safety. Overshadowing while pretty good in album #3! The Changing of Times can be considered a 180 turn from Cries of the Past for the most part, while still having their dark atmospheric black metal-influenced kicks in a few songs.

"When the Sun Sleeps" is a pretty great uplifting highlight to start this different chapter. The shorter "Letting Go of Tonight" starts soft briefly before a sudden Sonic powerup sound transition into the heaviness.  "A Message for Adrienne" has pathetically emo-ish Christian lyrics that recall the band's embarrassing lyrical past, "His wrists would bleed, but she would never see, so he took his life at the age of 23." I just turned 23, but I would never take my life! What happened to DIScouraging suicide like in the title track Act of Depression?!? Nevertheless, the great dark instrumentation from that debut is still around. Same with "Never Meant to Break Your Heart", a better highlight.

Now for the title track... UGH, that synth intro is one of the worst things to happen in both the band and the album! F*** THAT!!! The rest isn't too bad though. "Angel Below" once again proves that they still have the darkness of Cries of the Past. Drumming gets busily tight in "The Best of Me", which is f***ing great. One of the best of this album!

One of the best songs of the album is "Short of Daybreak" despite its short length. But the absolute best is "Alone In December". This one keeps up the earlier intensity without ever going highly aggressive, all in a balanced weight or forlorn honesty. The last track "814 Stops Today" is just under a minute of keyboard noise. Not a great ending to my ears, but it's a fine way out.

All in all, The Changing of Times isn't bad at all, other than the lyrics, some keyboard parts, and what people think of the drastic changes. This is kind of what 7 Angels 7 Plagues would sound like if still active, and fans of that band would dig this more than elite metalheads. Recommended if you wanna witness the times that were changing!

Favorites: "When the Sun Sleeps", "Never Meant to Break Your Heart", "The Best of Me", "Short of Daybreak", "Alone In December"