New York, NY (October 18, 2024) – Last month, metalcore legends Underoath returned with a new single “Teeth,” and hinted at plans for a full album release via MNRK Heavy in 2025. Today, they are sharing another taste of what’s to come with the punishing new song “Survivor’s Guilt” and its music video, which the band self-directed while on tour and brought to a final edit in under forty-eight hours just last week, working in tandem alongside Jacob Moniz, their social media content director. Listen here and watch here.
Speaking on “Survivor’s Guilt,” its lyrical themes and origins, the band’s Spencer Chamberlain says “I feel this heavy guilt about making it out alive when so many of my friends didn’t. There have been many times during my recovery when I’ve felt guilty, and that’s a mindfuck in itself, but it’s a real feeling. The opening line explains it pretty bluntly. I’ve been off drugs for 7 years, and I’ve lost 8 friends in 2023 alone to the same demon I was entangled with. It’s a heavy feeling to bear because it’s not like you’re better than anyone else out there—you literally just got lucky. I got my shit together before it was too late and I’m grateful for every single day I wake up now, especially because there was a time when I wasn’t sure I would.”
He continues, “The song was really fun to work on. The chorus came from the first idea I threw out there. I love when a song has such a powerful feel to the music that the vocals come out completely naturally. It made the sad heaviness feel even more intense. We’ve also never had a song with this type of swing to it, which is hard to pull off without it feeling cheesy, but I love the way this one hits. I could probably say this about every song on the record, but this is one of my favorite Underoath songs ever.”
Regarding the breathtaking music video for the song, guitarist Timothy McTague said “We had the idea to shoot a music video for ‘Survivors Guilt,’ as we really think the song is special and it needed a proper visual representation to accompany it. We are on the longest tour of our lives and had no time before we left, so we decided to shoot one ourselves with our content creator, Jacob Moniz . We spent the first few weeks of tour talking out ideas, and flew into Denver early on our day off and just went for it. We had a plan, but much like a song, you have an idea and if you let the project speak back to you and let it in the driver’s seat, magic happens. Some ideas we had came out better than we thought, other ideas morphed into shots we didn’t know we could capture. We started shooting at 5:30 PM on Wednesday and had the final cut before our show on Friday. I’m beyond impressed by the band and how we all dug in and sacrificed long hours to pull this off and I’m probably more proud of this video than anything we have done in years.”
Underoath reinvents the balance between chaos and harmony with each successive release. Their compositions, conjured from creative tension, become iconoclastic anthems. Even when the band almost combusts, the crackling energy coalesces into something deeply resonant for millions.
Their pair of gold albums and three Grammy nominations stand in stark defiance of the idea of commercial compromise. The Underoath catalog weaponizes noise, aggression, and ambiance as skillfully as melody. The combination of heaviness and headiness found on Define the Great Line makes it the only record of its kind to debut at No. 2 on the Billboard 200.
The heart of their sound, which delivers naked vulnerability with thrilling force and cinematic lushness, can be heard in generations of bands who’ve pursued their trail.
Walking an artistic tightrope between immersive access and isolationist otherness, Underoath owns the space between huge choruses and forward-thinking heaviness, both on record and onstage.
