I used to not like Spencer's vocals either, then a friend of mine told me that he thought that Spencer was the most versatile screamer out there. After I re-listened to their newest two, I tend to agree.
Oh Sleeper is amazing, but they don't push the envelope as much. Their newest album is one of my favorite of the past 5 years.
lowsound
spencer has good range, ill give him that. i just dont care for it in the context of that music. perhaps if he toned it down a bit.. more gruffy singing.. less throat noise.
aaron is what keeps underoath alive for me. their bassist is a hack. the keyboard guy is unnecessary and i feel like those guitarists could be replaced. unfortunately, aarons solo work is too poppy to be called "underoath without spencer". his voice, his off-kilter drumming.. its iconic. i cant make heads of tails of what he does half the time.
im finding a lot of bands with that thrice+underoath indie metalcore sound lately. look up a band called To Cherish. lighter than oh, sleeper, but pretty solid.
oh, sleeper isnt pushing because its already been pushed. thrice and underoath got spacey first, so everyone is following. unfortunately, i feel that the christian hardcore market is very limiting. ive watched it happen, and bands get trite and implode. maybe if they got off of solid state records.. who knows what they are capable of.. but right now it seems they are just sticking to the formula to get by. i like it.. but if they dont switch it up by the next album ill get bored.
its just like the second i tire of saosin (i never cared for circa), i am turned on to secret and whisper, which is canadian saosin with better songwriting.
i find my band touching on certain genre stereotypes and twisting them all around. theres a breakdown of sorts in nearly every song, but there is almost always an overlying melody and/or vocals. never just a mosh warrior section.
i also tire of the strange timing.. weird.. seemingly unrepeating dissonant verse riff. not since thrice's artist in the ambulance have i heard people use compound meter and do it with class. its really easy to work in 9/16 if your guitar parts are so nasty and in single beats.
the new it dies today record was an embarrassment. great.. your breakdown makes no sense. good for you. hope you can remember all 16 bars of it.
but thats the state of the hardcore/metalcore scene right now. le sigh
