Album Review: Thrice - 'The Alchemy Index Volume I & II'

1 November 2007 | 10:21 pm | Staff Writer
Originally Appeared In

Punk whiz kids give prog-rock a shot...

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A lot of different words have been

thrown around in the last 2 years to describe Orange County's Thrice.

Pretentious is one that I've heard a few times. Surely a bunch of OC

punks must be out of their minds to try and create a four part concept

record with the central themes of fire, water, earth and wind but Thrice

have well and truly silenced the detractors, because The Alchemy Index

Volume I and II is a masterpiece. 


With the third and fourth chapters

of The Alchemy Index set to drop sometime in 2008, Volume I and II show

Thrice operating at the most extreme ends of the musical spectrum. While

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the “Fire” disc is a natural progression (in my opinion anyway)

from 2005's Vheissu, it's the “Water” EP that is by far the most

experimental work the band has undertaken so far. 


While the Isis comparisons

will be inevitable, “Firebreather” manages to sound dense and potentially

earth shattering without directly ripping off the Boston noise merchants.

The combination of crushing riffs and Dustin's soaring vocals makes

the tune sound ominous but uplifting at the same time.... something

many bands try and fail dismally at. “The Messenger” is a short,

sharp burst of noise which again manages to merge the heavy with the

melodic without sounding cheesy and I think it's safe to say

that the down tuned rumble of guitars at the end of the song is the

heaviest twenty seconds of music that Thrice have committed to record.  


“Backdraft” has more of

an ambient vibe to it and while not as flashy as previous Thrice records,

Teppei's lead guitar work makes the song as memorable as it is intricate.

The off kilter beat and disjointed guitar work of “The Arsonist”

actually reminded me of the Deftones but the song is somehow able to

make its way to another Dustin Kensrue vocal hook.  


The “Fire” disc's standout

track would have to be “Burn The Fleet”. Although it's not as heavy

as the remainder of the CD it's an epic tune that features one hell

of a chorus and shows that Thrice don't need rapid fire drumming and

shredding guitars to make their music sound dynamic, as the dense layers

of drums, bass and guitars provide more than enough aural satisfaction.

“The Flame Deluge” is given the task of closing out this section

of the record and it sounds absolutely menacing... that is until it

fades out into a barely audible whisper which provides us with the perfect

introduction to the “Water” aspect of this recording. 


If you're a fan of Thrice's

earlier work and you refuse to accept the fact that they're no longer

a punk band then you'll enjoy the next six songs even less than the

first batch. The “Water” disc has more in common with bands like

Sigur Ros than it does with Metallica but rather than picking individual

tracks I suggest you listen to this EP as a whole (through headphones

is my tip) and lose yourself in the sound scape. 


As I said earlier, if you want

to listen to a quality punk/metal hybrid then go and give The IllusionOf Safety a spin but if you're prepared to embrace what Thrice have

become then this album will be one of the most satisfying listens of

2007.


Fire

  1. Firebreather
  2. The Messenger
  3. Backdraft
  4. The Arsonist
  5. Burn The Fleet
  6. The Flame Deluge
 


Water

  1. Digital Sea