Underoath at the Rust Belt -- March 10.
Friday, March 10, 7 p.m.
The Rust Belt, 533 12th Avenue, East Moline IL
A seminal voice in progressive rock for roughly a quarter-century, the Florida-based talents of Underoath headline a March 10 concert at East Moline venue The Rust Belt, the musicians' accomplishments including a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance and their 2006 album Define the Great Line debuting at number two on the Billboard 200.
Underoath was founded by lead vocalist Dallas Taylor and guitarist Luke Morton in November of 1997,in Ocala, Florida, and additional members hailed from Tampa, including drummer, clean vocalist, and last remaining core member Aaron Gillespie. The band's current lineup is composed of Gillespie, keyboardist Christopher Dudley, lead guitarist Timothy McTague, bassist Grant Brandell, lead vocalist Spencer Chamberlain, and rhythm guitarist James Smith, although the roster of members shifted frequently during Underoath's early years. Taylor recorded Act of Depression, Cries of the Past, and The Changing of Times with the band and remained with the group until his departure in 2003, and after Chamberlain replaced him as lead vocalist, the lineup has remained mostly stable since. Following the addition of Chamberlain, the group released They're Only Chasing Safety and Define the Great Line, both of which earned gold certifications by the RIAA and remain their most commercially successful releases, providing the musicians with mainstream status. Their sixth studio album, 2008's Lost in the Sound of Separation, also reached a top-10 peak on the Billboard 200, after which Gillespie left the group and was replaced by former Norma Jean drummer Daniel Davison.
After the release of their seventh album, 2010's Ø (Disambiguation), Underoath announced that they would be disbanding in 2013, playing their final show that January. A mere two years later, however, the band announced they had reunited, and in doing so, Gillespie returned to the lineup. After performing at A Day to Remember's Self Help Fest in 2016, Underoath announced their eighth studio album, Erase Me, would be released in 2018. It was their first album in eight years and their first with Gillespie in 10 years with Gillespie, and the band also publicly abandoned their Christian musical approach that they were famed with starting with this record. Erase Me's follow-up, Voyeurist, was released in January of last year and earned its creators some of their strongest reviews to date, with Kerrang stating, "Voyeurist is arguably the most cohesive and coherent record of Underoath's career to date. It's an album that asks profound questions about the meaning of life and death, about the nature and purpose of existence (and non/un-existence) and about the role that faith and religion play in our lives – all to some of the most punishingly heavy music you’ll hear this year."
Underoath performs their East Moline engagement on March 10 with additional sets by Periphery and Loathe, admission to the 7 p.m. concert starts at $39.75, and tickets are available by visiting TheRustBeltQC.com.
