Underoath has kicked off the US leg of their longest-ever tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their fourth studio album They’re Only Chasing Safety. This follows after a quick break from their European segment in June. Joining them on the tour is the British post-hardcore band, Static Dress, plus special guest sets in the US that were hand-picked by Underoath – an insight into who they think are some up-and-coming artists you may see celebrating their current music in 20 years.

The Dome at Toyota Oakdale in Connecticut was Underoath’s third stop and they selected the Philly-based metalcore band Kaonashi to fill the special guest spot. A line-up of powerful talent that had The Dome’s crowd moving more than it has in a long time.

Kaonashi opened up the night with a pitch-black stage, their bodies only visible to the crowd in brief bursts of strobe lighting as they tore through their setlist. They are a mathcore/metalcore band that formed in Philadelphia, Pennslyvania in 2012 but their sound varies with whatever emotion they are conveying. Kaonashi started relatively slow to warm the crowd up with their newer music, more alternative rock with some electronic influences, and softer sung lyrics. The tables flipped quickly as they exploded into their second song with more mathcore roots and a vocal style I have not heard since the band SikTh – high-pitched with an insanely fast cadence bouncing between words. This continued for the rest of the set as Kaonashi showcased the variety of music they could bring to the stage.

They released their latest EP A Second Chance At Forever: The Brilliant Lies From Casey Diamond earlier this year, somewhat of a deviation from their typical mathcore/metalcore heaviness as they explored softer vocals and more of an alternative/math rock sound. Fans of these genres can catch Kaonashi on either Protest the Hero’s Volition tour or their subsequent headlining tour later this year.

Up next was Static Dress, the 2018-formed post-hardcore band from Leeds, UK. There could not have been a better pick for this tour as internet fans describe Static Dress as a modern Underoath from their They’re Only Chasing Safety era, while still sounding fresh and different. When Static Dress’s set started, the lights went out and two old-school CRT TVs started playing ominous clips as the band quietly took to their places on the stage. Seconds later, the shadow of vocalist Olli Appleyard sprung forward, the lights burst, and fast-delivered screams met heavy melodic riffs over a drumbeat that was difficult to keep up with. As heavy as the set had been, Static Dress then dialed it up to 11 with “Courtney, just relax” – a song featuring some of the band’s deepest growls as well as guest vocals from Jess Nyx of the band World of Pleasure. Jess joining Static Dress on tour for those guest vocals is a welcome surprise you do not see often! They maintained momentum for the rest of the set, with the crowd opening up wide for two-steppers, eventually leading to a huge circle pit for their final and most popular song “clean.”.

Having toured earlier this year in the UK with Bring Me The Horizon and Bad Omens to now celebrating Underoath’s 20 years of They’re Only Chasing Safety, Static Dress is doing everything right to get their name out there to metalcore fans – they’re certainly on my playlist now! Their last release was the single “crying” from earlier this year which may indicate an album coming up in the future, but fans will have to wait for that official announcement.

The moment everyone at The Dome was waiting for had come. Hailing from Tampa, Florida, Underoath is a band that has experimented with multiple subgenres of metal since their inception in 1997. They have just kicked off the US leg of their longest tour ever, celebrating 20 years of their fourth studio album They’re Only Chasing Safety. Not only will fans experience all their favorites from this classic album, but ticket holders were lucky enough to get to vote for a secondary set of songs from their discography each night.

In their early days, Underoath’s music would shift from screamo vocals and fast melodies to death growls and blast beats and almost out of nowhere to slow-tempo hardcore breakdowns. Individually well-executed, but feeling too chaotic at times. Circa 2004, Underoath released their fourth studio album They’re Only Chasing Safety which delivered a much more consistent post-hardcore sound. In what felt like another evolution Underoath subsequently released Define the Great Line, which reached number 2 on the Billboard 200 – an incredible and well-deserved achievement. The change in maturity of lead singer Spencer Chamberlain’s vocals is the cherry on top of this album, moving away from a harsh screamo sound to a lower and more consistent-sounding scream. Underoath continued to root themselves in metalcore over the years, releasing Lost in the Sound of Separation in 2008 and Ø (Disambiguation) in 2010 hitting spots 8 and 23 on the Billboard 200 charts respectively.

Unfortunately, Underoath went through a rough patch for a few years after breaking up in 2013 but made quite the comeback in 2018 with their eighth studio album Erase Me, featuring the Grammy-nominated single for Best Metal Performance “On My Teeth”. This leaves us with their most recent (and self-produced) release from 2022: Voyuerist, an ambitious album with a bleak message that dips its toes back into the post-hardcore rawness of their earlier work.

Returning to The Dome in Connecticut… All stage lighting had been turned off bar one small table lamp. The crowd screamed as Underoath’s drummer Aaron Gillespie sat down center stage on a dimly lit sofa and started singing “Some Will Seek Forgiveness, Others Escape”. It was a passionate performance that left the crowd silent and in awe, as Gillespie belted out emotional lines between dramatic pauses. The song ended and everything returned to black for a brief moment before Chamberlain appeared illuminated front and center with his hands in the air. This was the last moment of peace The Dome experienced as Underoath proceeded to unleash the glory of They’re Only Chasing Safety. The entire crowd shifted and the front few rows found themselves pressed tightly against the barrier as small pits formed behind them. Crowdsurfing fans screamed along to every word while putting security to the test as they juggled Chamberlain’s repeated close-up engagements with the crowd, screaming face-to-face with lucky fans. Hearing this album played in its entirety with Chamberlain’s more modern vocals was extraordinary and made me wonder what a remaster could sound like (but why possibly ruin something already great?).

After they played through the full album, Underoath took a well-needed breather and rearranged the stage before they switched over to the setlist of additional songs. Gone were the moody table lamps and sofa – out came a modern neon sign for a backdrop, which returned the show from the early 2000s to the present. Their newest single “Teeth” (out this month) was first up plus a handful of hits voted for by ticketholders. The high energy of the night continued and there was a seemingly endless torrent of crowd surfers being launched out of a constantly bouncing crowd. It truly is no exaggeration that this was the most intense crowd that The Dome had experienced in years. We will be waiting for Underoath’s inevitable return with that new unannounced album!