Florida metalcore vets Underoath just dropped a ripping new standalone single, "Damn Excuses." It's packed with pounding drums and a barrage of chaotic and guttural screaming via vocalist Spencer Chamberlain, but there's also atmospheric moments and the band's classic sense of melody in the chorus. More like no damn excuses. Blast it above.
Keyboardist Chris Dudley said of the song, "[It] came out of nowhere for us. In hindsight, it probably stems emotionally from the anxiousness that a year of isolation will give you, and that 'wanting-to-explode' feeling came out with zero effort. It was therapeutic. This is us ready to get back into a loud room with sweaty people and experience something real together."
This song also grew out of the band's 2020 Observatory livestream series. Playing a different album from their back catalog weekly — 2008's Lost in the Sound of Separation, 2006's Define the Great Line and finally 2004's They're Only Chasing Safety — the event created a unique experience with its full production. Underoath put fans at center stage and let the cameras whirl around them, creating an intimate, up-close experience.
When Revolver interviewed vocalist-drummer Aaron Gillespie and Chamberlain about the Observatory shows, the latter said: "Underoath is so anti faking anything — we can't just pretend." It's a sentiment that plays out on the new song.
"Damn Excuses" — self-recorded and -produced at guitarist Tim McTague's Feral Sound studio in Tampa — is the first release since 2018's Grammy-nominated and critically lauded comeback full-length, Erase Me.
