Define the Great Line — Underoath

Underoath's Define the Great Line came out on Tooth & Nail on 20 June 2006. After They're Only Chasing Safety on Solid State, the band had signed with its parent label. It's eleven tracks and runs forty-five minutes fifty-four seconds, though Jesus Freak Hideout lists 45:50. The band recorded it between January and March 2006 at Zing Recording Studios in Westfield, Massachusetts, and Glow in the Dark Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. Adam Dutkiewicz of Killswitch Engage produced it with Matt Goldman and the band. Chris Lord-Alge mixed it with Keith Armstrong assisting at Resonate Music in Burbank, and Tom Baker mastered it at Precision Mastering in Los Angeles.

Spencer Chamberlain sang lead, Timothy McTague played lead guitar and James Smith played rhythm. Grant Brandell played bass, Christopher Dudley played keyboards, synthesisers and samplers, and Aaron Gillespie played drums and sang clean vocals. Dutkiewicz also played extra guitar on "To Whom It May Concern." Chandler Owen did the art direction and packaging, and Jeff Gros took the photos. A special-edition CD/DVD came with a making-of film.

It debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, selling more than 98,000 copies in its first week. That made it the highest-charting Christian release on that chart since 1997, and the biggest first week in Tooth & Nail's history up to then. It went to No. 1 on both the Christian Albums and Top Rock Albums charts, reached No. 28 in Australia on the ARIA chart and No. 37 in New Zealand. The RIAA certified it gold, for 500,000 copies, by November 2006. The video for "Writing on the Walls" was nominated for Best Short Form Music Video at the 2007 Grammys. Here's the running order. In Regards to Myself, A Moment Suspended in Time, There Could Be Nothing After This, You're Ever So Inviting, Sálmarnir, Returning Empty Handed, Casting Such a Thin Shadow, Moving for the Sake of Motion, Writing on the Walls, Everyone Looks So Good from Here and To Whom It May Concern. It was the Florida band's fifth album, made with Dutkiewicz and Goldman in Westfield and Atlanta.

Who they were in 2006

In 2006 they were a Christian metalcore and post-hardcore band from the Tampa area, now on Tooth & Nail. The faith was already there in the lyrics, raw rather than churchy, and both Cross Rhythms and Jesus Freak Hideout heard desperation and redemption in them, not a sermon.

What the critics keep saying about this album

Josh Taylor reviewed it for Jesus Freak Hideout on 20 June 2006. He called it the most anticipated release of the year and the hardcore album of the year so far. He said it had the accessibility of They're Only Chasing Safety with everything turned up. Chamberlain doesn't just scream, he roars, and Gillespie's drumming is more intense and urgent but still precise, leaving you hardly any room to breathe. He noted that God is addressed by name in desperate cries, with pain, weariness and frustration alongside a sense that things need to change.

Brandon J. at Indie Vision Music gave the special-edition CD/DVD a perfect 10 out of 10 on 20 August 2006. He heard Chamberlain's most brutal vocals since Cries of the Past and merciless, somewhat chaotic guitars, with melodic hardcore stretched by influences like The Chariot, Beloved and Maylene. He said the keys tie the record together into one journey instead of a pile of songs, and he loved the closing encouragement on "To Whom It May Concern," "At the end of the road you'll find what you've been looking for." He was in awe, and he called it the smartest move the band could make after Safety had pulled in the mall crowd.

Tony Cummings at Cross Rhythms reviewed it on 12 July 2006. He quoted Kerrang! calling it "an exceptional record… that will appeal to, and challenge, rock fans all over the spectrum," then gave his own verdict. He found it impressively versatile, with metal riffs, emo breakdowns, screamo noise and memorable hooks. He praised Chamberlain's "stunning repertoire of guttural growls, smooth emoting and nerve-jangling screams," Gillespie's dazzling drumming, and McTague and Smith's guitars, with plenty of E-bow. He said Goldman and Dutkiewicz had widened the band's sound. He called "In Regards to Myself" ferocious, said "Writing on the Walls" was hooky enough to be a radio hit, and called "Casting Such a Thin Shadow" daring for playing tight for nearly four minutes before the vocals come in. He doubted a better hard album would come out that year, and he gave it a perfect score.

AllMusic's James Christopher Monger called it "blistering and occasionally majestic." He said its huge production showed how far Christian metal had come since Stryper and Bloodgood, with throat-shredding grindcore meeting the emo-punk of My Chemical Romance and From Autumn to Ashes. He heard faith explored with reverence on Sálmarnir and with suspicion on "There Could Be Nothing After This," along with themes of isolation, anger, introspection and self-confidence that anyone could relate to.

AbsolutePunk called it a "masterpiece of the genre" and an album that "can never be forgotten."

Brian Shultz at Punknews.org heard ambition in the spirit of Botch, alongside peers like Norma Jean and The Chariot. He noticed there was less singing than on Safety, which he heard as a nice dynamic rather than a string of choruses, and he pointed to the unsettling radio-rock bellow of "we turn the pages left to right!" on "You're Ever So Inviting." Drowned in Sound gave it 5 out of 10, which is a fair counterweight to IVM's 10 and Cummings calling it the best of the year. Boris Kaiser at Rock Hard gave it 8 out of 10 and heard a band angrier and more violent than on Safety. Doug Van Pelt at CCM Magazine gave it an A-minus and said Goldman and Dutkiewicz helped the band grow and outdo themselves. Loudwire later ranked it among the greatest metalcore albums, and Revolver in 2023 and Loudwire in 2025 have both called it Underoath's best.

Four tracks from this LP

Writing on the Walls has the official video, made by Anders Forsman of Popcore in Sweden, and it leads off the videos. It went to radio as a single on 27 June 2006, the video got a Grammy nomination, and Cummings loved its hooky chorus and the layered vocals at the end.

In Regards to Myself is the opener, and it's got an official video too, directed by Linus Johansson of Popcore. IVM called it the most brutal Chamberlain had sounded since Cries, Cummings called it ferocious, and if you like Norma Jean's dissonance you'll hear the connection straight away.

You're Ever So Inviting also has an official video. It went to radio as a single in January 2007, and it's got the "we turn the pages left to right!" chorus Punknews pointed to.

A Moment Suspended in Time got an official video from Popcore Films in Sweden, posted in September 2007.

Moving for the Sake of Motion, Returning Empty Handed and the seven-minute closer To Whom It May Concern are among the videos too, so you can hear the middle of the album and its long ending alongside the singles.

What the room sounded like in 2006

Dutkiewicz and Goldman's sessions at Zing and Glow in the Dark put the Florida band on a Tooth & Nail album with Lord-Alge's shine on top and Chamberlain and Gillespie trading vocals, and nobody smoothed them into soft Christian pop. The videos for Writing on the Walls, In Regards to Myself, You're Ever So Inviting and A Moment Suspended in Time are still worth your time. The No. 2 debut, the gold record and the Grammy nomination for the video are all on record. It isn't an arena legend. It's the fifth album that made Underoath, and critics still argue over it, with IVM's 10 and Cummings' best-of-the-year claim on one side and Drowned in Sound's 5 on the other.

The score

I'm giving it a 9/10.

Why not a ten? Drowned in Sound gave it a 5, some Safety fans never came around, and even Taylor said history would decide whether this was their defining record. Why not an eight? Look at the No. 2 debut and the gold record, IVM's 10, Cummings calling it the best hard album of the year, Taylor naming it the hardcore album of the year, Monger calling it blistering and majestic, and AbsolutePunk calling it a masterpiece. Add four videos that still land and later best-of lists from Loudwire and Revolver, nearly twenty years on, and it earns the higher mark. It's the Underoath album that matters most, made with Dutkiewicz and Goldman, even if it isn't flawless.

Where this album sits on Loud Faith

Christian metalcore on Tooth & Nail and Solid State in 2006 was riding high. It meant sessions at Zing, tension on Warped Tour's main stage, Taste of Chaos dates, and kids who wanted breakdowns and belief on the same CD. Define the Great Line is Underoath's fifth album. Taylor called it the hardcore album of the year, Brandon J. gave it a 10, Cummings called it a sonic feast, Monger found it majestic, and AbsolutePunk called it a masterpiece. "Writing on the Walls" is where to begin.