LITSOS is carved with the kind of garage tool abrasiveness that makes it both scathing & aggressive, whilst at the same time being intimate & compelling.
Underoath encapsulate being just plain angry, but never angry enough to cloud our confuse the main issues and deeper meaning.
When Spencer declares “The plot thickens” it truly does as Underoath decimate, beating and sweating profusely the music thrashes out, rarely miss-hitting-but if at any point it does, it’s through sheer emotion; it’s a more focused outing than previous efforts.
There’s an articulation to what Underoath are saying, they wear that ‘Anti-hero’ tag reluctantly well and continue with their insular lyrics-“The only thing in my way is myself” from ‘Anyone can dig a hole, but it takes a real man to call it home’ showing the depths being mapped out here.
The album offers up little respite until ‘A fault line, a fault of mine’ and even in the small breathing moments it gives you, it still scratches at your psyche.
‘Lost in..’ is a constant attempt to find something honest and true out of real situations, and as such has to be brutal ,uncompromising and unerring in its pursuit.
The final moments of ‘The end is here’ feel like a cool off period after what has gone before and ensures the album is best listened to as a whole to understand Underoaths thought process
The most rewarding thing that Underoath achieve is striping down the issues and being unafraid of difficult conversations and truths; through this they establish a stronger understanding and clearer message. The methods used are not pretty, but they are certainty clinically effective.
