Underoath keeps it heavy on 'Lost in the Sound of Separation'

"We're all going to race each other and try not to get killed before tomorrow's show, I guess," the 25-year-old singer said with a chuckle, his mellow speaking voice nothing like the guttural screams heard on the Grammy-nominated band's propulsive rock songs. "Going 55 mph in a little tiny go-kart, after 20-some days on tour, can end up being pretty dangerous."

But then Underoath, which plays tonight at the Ventura Theater and Saturday at Bren Events Center in Irvine, could never be accused of playing it safe. After a tumultuous 10-year history wracked by personnel changes -- drummer and "clean vocalist" Aaron Gillespie is the sole remaining original member -- the Florida-based band this fall has found a rapturous critical reception for its sixth album, "Lost in the Sound of Separation" (Solid State Records).

After flirting with a more melodic sound, especially on 2004's "They're Only Chasing Safety," "Lost" marks a return to heavier music and themes. The first single, "Desperate Times, Desperate Measures," is a hard-charging howl of a song, marked by insanely fast drumming, crunchy guitar riffs and disturbing lyrical refrains ("Let's hope this is short-lived and riddled with disease"). The track has gotten plenty of exposure thanks to its inclusion on the video game Madden NFL 09, which has sold more than 4 million units.

"Lost" is currently the top-rated album of 2008 on the review-aggregation site Metacritic; while that site's methodology has been the subject of considerable debate among fans, Underoath's score of 92 (out of 100) puts it two points above the runner-up, Bob Dylan’s “Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series Vol. 8.” The eclectic music site Soul-Audio.com, which reviews artists as disparate as Switchfoot and Faith Hill, dubbed the Underoath disc a masterpiece full of "mind-blowing music."

Chamberlain said the group paid more attention than in the past to making a cohesive record: "We tried to make it an album from start to finish. . . . The whole goal was to make something that flowed together all the way from front to back."