Album: “The Alchemy Index Vols. I & II: Fire & Water”

Description

In what seems like a textbook "big rock" move, Thrice have broken up their new album into two distinct stylistic categories, FIRE and WATER. Critics will call it pretension, but Thrice has used the structure as a vehicle to explore different facets of their distinct post-hardcore sound. Thrice has continued to move in all sorts of interesting directions since their inception, and THE ALCHEMY INDEX: VOLS I & II shows them taking that next step into complexity. <p>Appropriately enough, FIRE features a more incendiary Thrice. Opener "Firebreather" spews elemental shards of molten metal guitar, while furnace-burned vocals and a twisting, aggressive heaviness make "The Messenger" even more aggressive. This isn't to say that FIRE is a one-dimensional record, as other tracks take cues from atmospheric headbangers like Isis in their combination of crushing guitar and lighter, ambient sounds. <p>WATER, on the other hand, tilts the balance further over to the ambient side, complete with gentler vocals, washes of keyboards, and a peppering of electronics, coming off at times like Depeche Mode on the one hand and even the late Elliott Smith on the other. It's a sonic palate as far removed from the opening notes of FIRE as it is from the band's post-hardcore origins, and it amply showcases Thrice's progression and ambitions.