History Music / Unearth

** Both Chris Rybicki and John Maggard are mainly referred to by their nicknames "Rover" and "Slo", respectively, when talked of by the other members. This spread to the fanbase as a result.

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Both Chris and John are mainly referred to by their nicknames "Rover" and "Slo", respectively, when talked of by the other members. This spread to the fanbase as a result.

* TheAllegedCar: Trevor once described their original touring van as being this by 2003, calling it a "monstrosity" that he said "needed the oil changed every 600 miles" and "lost two tires a day". Cranked UpToEleven after it was rear-ended while the band was driving to pick up a fill-in drummer following Rudberg's departure; after that point, it sported a faulty exhaust pipe[[note]]whether from shoddy repairs or a total lack of any repairs wasn't made clear[[/note]] that began spewing fumes into the back, causing the group to experience bizarre dreams involving "Bill Cosby and death".

* TheAllegedCar: Trevor once described their original touring van as being this by 2003, calling it a "monstrosity" that he said "needed the oil changed every 600 miles" and "lost two tires a day". Its loss in a car accident while they were on their way to pick up a fill-in drummer in the aftermath of Rudberg's departure was still a(nother) devastating blow for them, though.

* AllJustADream: It's revealed at the end of the "Zombie Autopilot" video that large chunks of it, including the OfficeDrone throwing a file folder at his boss and quitting, were just a dream he was having on the subway.

* TrueCompanions: In a 2011 interview, Trevor Phipps characterized the relationship between the original five members as this, noting that he, Ken and Buz still hung out with Mike Rudberg whenever they were back in Massachusetts, and that Chris Rybicki never missed an Unearth show in the state between his departure and his death. Basically, the only thing that kept Chris and Mike from continuing were touring issues - Rybicki's are detailed above, while Rudberg basically just burned out after a couple years on the road and went back home to recover.

* AnAxeToGrind: The artwork for ''III: In the Eyes of Fire'' has two axes behind a shield.

This line-up would remain together through production of the band's seventh album ''Extinction(s)'', released in 2018, with O'Toole achieving full-time status in that time. They initially weathered the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic well enough, but as of 2022 their line-up has started shuffling again, with both the departure of Pierce after a decade with the group and the surprise announcement of Susi going on hiatus; that both have been spotted working with Music/AsILayDying in the wake of their own turnover has cast doubt on Susi's long-term future with the group. Regardless, the remaining members, with the addition of Peter Layman (a former touring fill-in from the mid-[=2000s=]) and the even more surprising return of Mike Justian, have pressed forward. A new album is due sometime in 2023; interviews have already confirmed that it was recorded with Pierce and Susi.

This line-up would remain together through production of the band's seventh album ''Extinction(s)'', released in 2018, with O'Toole achieving full-time status in that time. They initially weathered the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic well enough, but as of 2022 their line-up has started shuffling again, with both the departure of Pierce after a decade with the group and the surprise announcement of Susi going on hiatus; that both have been spotted working with Music/AsILayDying in the wake of their own turnover has cast doubt on Susi's long-term future with the group. Regardless, the remaining members, with the addition of Peter Layman (a former touring fill-in from the mid-[=2000s=]) and the even more surprising return of Mike Justian, have pressed forward. A new album is reportedly due sometime in 2022-23; interviews have already confirmed that it was recorded with Pierce and Susi.

* ItWillNeverCatchOn: There was [[{{Understatement}} a tad bit]] of skepticism when it was first announced that they had recruited a drummer off of Website/YouTube. This ignored the fact that the selection process that brought Nick into the band was the internet equivalent of an invitation-only audition, with the band only looking into drummers who already had experience with other bands[[note]]a quick check of his Metal-Archives page reveals stints with numerous bands and a couple albums[[/note]], and explicitly asking them to record the drum tracks from their older work and post them on their pages. There's also the fact that Nick had to run an entire tour as a fill-in before being bumped up to full-time, which probably would have been a condition for any other drummer who could've gotten past the audition phase. These days, majority opinion is that Nick was an excellent fit with the band.

* RevolvingDoorBand: Trevor, Ken and Buz have been nearly constant throughout the band's existence. However, they've had particular trouble keeping drummers since Mike Rudberg left in 2003,[[note]]Buz briefly dropped out around the same time, but returned before the end of the year[[/note]] with only his first permanent replacement Mike Justian lasting long enough to record two albums.[[note]]although in terms of number of years, Derek Kerswill equaled Justian before his own departure, and both have since been surpassed by Nick Pierce[[/note]] Since John first started missing tour dates in 2013, they've also had a few different live bassists with no permanent replacement yet announced. (apparently, Ken and Buz recorded the studio bass on ''Watchers of Rule'')

* Buz [=McGrath=] – guitars (1998–present)
* Ken Susi – guitars, backing/clean vocals (1998–present)
* Nick Pierce – drums, percussion (2012–present)

* Mike Justian (2004-2007)

* ItWillNeverCatchOn: There was [[{{Understatement}} a tad bit]] of skepticism when it was first announced that they had recruited a drummer off of Website/YouTube. This ignored the fact that the selection process that brought Nick into the band was the internet equivalent of an invitation-only audition, with the band only looking into drummers who already had experience with other bands[[note]]a quick check of his Metal-Archives page reveals stints with numerous bands and a couple albums[[/note]], and explicitly asking them to record the drum tracks from their older work and post them on their pages. There's also the fact that Nick had to run an entire tour as a fill-in before being bumped up to full-time, which probably would have been a condition for any other drummer who could've gotten past the audition phase. These days, majority opinion is that Nick is an excellent fit with the band.
* JerkAss: Mike Justian was accused of being this by fans who had met him, and it's thought that his unpleasant personality led to conflicts with the other members and, ultimately, his termination. Interestingly, the press release announcing his firing went so far as to say "We are not in the business of airing dirty laundry". The fact that he was in and out of Music/TrapThem almost as quickly may or may not have had anything to do with this as well.

** Their newest album was faster and heavier, significantly increasing the MelodicDeathMetal influences.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: 8 or 9. ''Watchers of Rule'' was a standard 10 on average.

* VocalTagTeam: Trevor and Ken on the passages with clean vocals. Trevor and John had a harsh vocals-only tag team.

* LimitedSpecialCollectorsUltimateEdition: The majority of their albums have these, usually featuring bonus tracks, a bonus DVD, or sometimes (such as ''The Oncoming Storm'') both.

* MetalScream: Type 1

* NewSoundAlbum: Their newest album was faster and heavier, significantly increasing the MelodicDeathMetal influences.

* DrugsAreBad: Chris Rybicki, former bassist, was killed in a car accident by a drunk woman.

In October 2014, the band put out their sixth album, ''Watchers of Rule''; many noticed that Maggard was not credited on the album, and interviews around this time confirmed that he is no longer in the band. The bassist position has yet to be filled, but [[Music/FearFactory Matt DeVries]] had been touring with the band since 2013, when Maggard stopped being able to tour. As of the end of 2014, [=DeVries=] has stepped down from the position (not to mention music in general, at least for the time being) and former Savage Messiah bassist Chris O'Toole has taken the live bass slot. Whether the latter will become a full-time member or not remains to be seen.

''Live Only:''

** Daniel "DL" Laskiewicz (ex-The Acacia Strain) made some guest writing contributions on ''Extinction(s)''.

* {{Metalcore}}: One of the bigger names in the melodic metalcore boom, as well as one of the very few acts to retain something close to their peak status (compared to, say, Shadows Fall, who were far bigger in their heyday but fell ''hard'').

* LoudnessWar: It doesn't matter who's been behind the boards,[[note]]for most of their career it's been Adam D from Killswitch; Terry Date worked on ''III: In The Eyes of Fire'', while Mark Lewis (who works in the same studio as the more infamous Jason Suecof), who'd done the mix for ''Darkness'' owing to Adam's other commitments, stepped up to the producer role for ''Watchers of Rule''[[/note]] all of their albums show signs of heavy brickwalling. The worst is probably ''The March'', though.

* {{Metalcore}}: One of the bigger names in the melodic metalcore boom, as well as one of the very few acts to retain something close to their peak status (compared to, say, Shadows Fall, who were far bigger in their heyday but fell ''[[DeaderThanDisco hard]]'').

In 2006, the band released ''III: In the Eyes of Fire''. Shortly afterward, Mike Justian was fired from the band for numerous reasons, and Gene Hoglan of Strapping Young Lad was recruited on a temporary basis, before Derek Kerswill became the new permanent drummer in 2007. 2008 saw the release of ''The March'', a concept album based on humanity as a whole. The album also featured a re-recording of "The Chosen", which appears on AquaTeenHungerForce Movie.

** Additionally, Matt [=DeVries=] had been their touring bassist since 2013, when John Maggard stopped being able to tour. He has since dropped out of music at least temporarily, and Chris O'Toole has become their new live bassist.

* TheCameo: A veritable wellspring of these on the "Grave of Opportunity" video, which seems to have crammed half the Massachusetts Metalcore scene into one house party to play the song on ''Franchise/GuitarHero''. Based on the vid's Website/{{YouTube}} comments, the most obvious (both for recognition and because he's hamming it up to the camera) is [[Music/AllThatRemains Phil Labonte]].

In October 2014, the band put out their sixth album, ''Watchers of Rule''; many noticed that Maggard was not credited on the album, and interviews around this time confirmed that he is no longer in the band. The bassist position has yet to be filled, but [[Music/FearFactory Matt DeVries]] has been touring with the band since 2013, when Maggard stopped being able to tour. As of the end of 2014, [=DeVries=] has stepped down from the position (not to mention music in general, at least for the time being) and former Savage Messiah bassist Chris O'Toole has taken the live bass slot. Whether the latter will become a full-time member or not remains to be seen.

* GriefSong: "Last Wish". The band has stated it was a memorial to several people they knew who ended up in permanent vegetative states after some kind of trauma, although the most obvious is Chris Rybicki, who lay in a coma for three and a half weeks between the car accident and his actual death. The song is sung from the perspective of the soul of one such individual, who has been permanently separated from his body but can't move on while it remains on life support, and while he certainly didn't want to leave that way, he's also accepted his fate and wishes for his family to do the same.