Underoath Promise Their Set At UNIFY Gathering Tonight Will Be 'One To Remember'

Floridian act Underoath are bona fide legends in the rock/post-hardcore/metalcore scenes. It appears that even a lengthy hiatus has failed to remove the sheen from that legend and their legacy. The band took an ‘official’ two year breather from the scene in the early to mid-2010s which, all up, contributed to the fact that they actually went a full eight years between album releases, between 2010’s Ø (Disambiguation) and last year’s comeback record Erase Me. However, according to longtime keyboard player Chris Dudley, the band’s fans haven’t gone anywhere, in fact they feel they’ve been welcomed back with open arms.

“Heck yes!” he enthuses. “I gotta say, it's a little scary coming back after being gone so long, but with the new record and touring globally since its release, we're seeing crowds like we've never seen and we couldn't be more pumped. The fact that we get to live this life is amazing.”

Indeed, the demand for the band’s live show across the world has been as strong as ever since the release of Erase Me, and possibly even more so, always an excellent indicator as to how well an album has been received. And, in the case of Underoath, how well the fans have remembered and re-embraced the band after so long out of the limelight.

One thing Dudley is very keen not to do though, is take it all for granted. “Man, I think so often about how lucky we are in that respect,” he states. “The fact that we have so many people who care so much about what we do never ceases to amaze me. It's not normal and I never want it to become the norm for us. Taking it all day by day and being thankful.”

Australia is the next cab off the rank to see the band live on their comeback tour. They touch down here this month to headline the mighty UNIFY Gathering in Victoria. The festival has an incredible line-up of heavy guitar-based bands for punters’ viewing and listening pleasure, and Dudley singles out one Aussie band he is looking forward to seeing, as well hooking up with a couple of other bands Underoath have shared the stage with recently.

“The fact that we have so many people who care so much about what we do never ceases to amaze me. It's not normal and I never want it to become the norm for us."

“I’ve checked out the line-up, it’s killer!” he says. “My only wish is that we'd be able to have all the bands play on one day so I could see all my friends. Very pumped for Karnivool on our day and we have toured with Crossfaith and The Plot In You this year, so it'll be cool to reconnect with those guys.”

The band have no less than eight albums behind them now, and the headlining nature of their set at UNIFY should allow the band to wind out and cover a large chunk of that illustrious back catalogue. Fans should also prepare themselves for a few surprises too. “Our set will be a long one!” Dudley exclaims. “Lots of stuff we've never played in Australia before, working hard to make this one to remember.

“Ultimately, we’re very excited! We have never played UNIFY before and we keep hearing from friends of ours how amazing it is, so we're pumped to see for ourselves.”

For Dudley, the hiatus was re-invigorating for him, and also a time to grow and learn to appreciate things a little more. “The big learnings for me personally are I learned to say sorry, and re-learned that I love writing music.

“For me, the break was amazing. I can say for sure for Spencer [Chamberlain, frontman], it was like a new lease on life.”

It’s been a full two decades since the band formed. Even with the profound changes that the band and the music industry have gone through in that time, Dudley feels that not a great deal has changed in regards to the way they approach songwriting and running the band.

“Basically I view my time in the band as icing on the cake. I don't think the changes in the industry have changed our songwriting or the band overall aside from just helping us to refocus on the fact that we need to be writing music that excites us first, then focus on everything else after.”