Rohan Kohli
10/17/05, 02:56 PM
Here's yet another Thrice (http://www.thrice.net) review:
Gutsy album proves Thrice has no musical limits
By J.R. Phillips, Daily O'Collegian;
SOURCE: Oklahoma State U.
"When you believe what's true in your heart is true for all people, then that is reaching the core of genius." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
There aren't too many hardcore or "screamo" bands around today who can regularly quote Ralph Waldo Emerson. There aren't too many bands who donate most of their time and profits toward charities to help underprivileged kids get ahead in life, period. Then again, Thrice isn't considered to be like too many bands.
Formed in 1998, the Irvine, Calif., band members have established themselves as superior musicians among the field of melodic hardcore bands with 1999's "Identity Crisis," becoming stronger and more cohesive with 2002's "Illusion of Safety," and more mature and melodic with 2004's "Artist in the Ambulance," an album that topped out at No. 11 on the Billboard charts and sold more than double the copies than "Crisis" and "Safety" combined.
Now, Thrice will begin its new chapter in breaking musical barriers society has built with its 2005 release "Vheissu," set to hit stores Tuesday.
"Vheissu" takes its title from the loose collection of arcane myths found in "V.", Thomas Pynchon's classic underground novel of 1963. While hesitant to explain too thoroughly why they have chosen this title, the band has remarked that at each crossroads they face, they feel they are "Standing at Vheissu," which stands for Vesuvius, cited by Virgil at the entrance to the maze of the underworld in the previously mentioned novel.
Frontman Dustin Kensrue picks up "Vheissu" right where he left off in "Artist," belting out smooth melodic verses coupled with harsh, anger ridden stanzas. Riley Breckenridge's drum work is especially notable as he leads the band's frequent tempo shifts and always seems to find just the right place in a song for a quick burst of sound. It's around this rhythmic core that Riley, plus his brother Eddie on bass and Teppei Teranishi on lead guitar, crafts Thrice's alternately sweet and crushing melodies.
Beginning with "Image of the Invisible," "Vheissu" begins and sounds just like its predecessors, a convergence of metal's intensity and emo's vulnerability. But, with "Between the End and Where We Lie" immediately following, Thrice quickly lays the gantlet for changing their sound.
The song is slower, and more melodious, giving Kensrue a chance to display his range of vocals, something only partially revealed on the Beatle cover "Eleanor Rigby" from the double disc live CD "If We Could Only See Us Now."
The tone of the entire CD and Thrice as a whole is once again thrown into oblivion with the next song "The Earth Will Shake." The song jumps in and out of an old time sound, being replaced with screaming, and heartfelt verses in a way that balances the song very nicely.
Songs like "Atlantic" show the way in which Thrice's sound has developed from the "Illusion of Safety." "Atlantic," an ambient ballad track reinforced by electronic backbeats, features melodic intonations and an even slower tempo than the second track.
While their earlier material was driven by crunch riffs, intricate guitar playing and songs that bounded between yearning melodies and scathing dissonance, "Vheissu" is alternately rooted in mystical and atmospheric textures and arrangements that refuse to draw distinctions between hard and soft.
"Vheissu" is the kind of album that is unexpected, unprecedented and undeniable.
This is a gutsy album that proves the only limits to musical growth are in the artist's mind. It is difficult to tell where Thrice will go musically after "Vheissu," but it is clear the album has opened the door for them to go just about anywhere.
Gutsy album proves Thrice has no musical limits
By J.R. Phillips, Daily O'Collegian;
SOURCE: Oklahoma State U.
"When you believe what's true in your heart is true for all people, then that is reaching the core of genius." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
There aren't too many hardcore or "screamo" bands around today who can regularly quote Ralph Waldo Emerson. There aren't too many bands who donate most of their time and profits toward charities to help underprivileged kids get ahead in life, period. Then again, Thrice isn't considered to be like too many bands.
Formed in 1998, the Irvine, Calif., band members have established themselves as superior musicians among the field of melodic hardcore bands with 1999's "Identity Crisis," becoming stronger and more cohesive with 2002's "Illusion of Safety," and more mature and melodic with 2004's "Artist in the Ambulance," an album that topped out at No. 11 on the Billboard charts and sold more than double the copies than "Crisis" and "Safety" combined.
Now, Thrice will begin its new chapter in breaking musical barriers society has built with its 2005 release "Vheissu," set to hit stores Tuesday.
"Vheissu" takes its title from the loose collection of arcane myths found in "V.", Thomas Pynchon's classic underground novel of 1963. While hesitant to explain too thoroughly why they have chosen this title, the band has remarked that at each crossroads they face, they feel they are "Standing at Vheissu," which stands for Vesuvius, cited by Virgil at the entrance to the maze of the underworld in the previously mentioned novel.
Frontman Dustin Kensrue picks up "Vheissu" right where he left off in "Artist," belting out smooth melodic verses coupled with harsh, anger ridden stanzas. Riley Breckenridge's drum work is especially notable as he leads the band's frequent tempo shifts and always seems to find just the right place in a song for a quick burst of sound. It's around this rhythmic core that Riley, plus his brother Eddie on bass and Teppei Teranishi on lead guitar, crafts Thrice's alternately sweet and crushing melodies.
Beginning with "Image of the Invisible," "Vheissu" begins and sounds just like its predecessors, a convergence of metal's intensity and emo's vulnerability. But, with "Between the End and Where We Lie" immediately following, Thrice quickly lays the gantlet for changing their sound.
The song is slower, and more melodious, giving Kensrue a chance to display his range of vocals, something only partially revealed on the Beatle cover "Eleanor Rigby" from the double disc live CD "If We Could Only See Us Now."
The tone of the entire CD and Thrice as a whole is once again thrown into oblivion with the next song "The Earth Will Shake." The song jumps in and out of an old time sound, being replaced with screaming, and heartfelt verses in a way that balances the song very nicely.
Songs like "Atlantic" show the way in which Thrice's sound has developed from the "Illusion of Safety." "Atlantic," an ambient ballad track reinforced by electronic backbeats, features melodic intonations and an even slower tempo than the second track.
While their earlier material was driven by crunch riffs, intricate guitar playing and songs that bounded between yearning melodies and scathing dissonance, "Vheissu" is alternately rooted in mystical and atmospheric textures and arrangements that refuse to draw distinctions between hard and soft.
"Vheissu" is the kind of album that is unexpected, unprecedented and undeniable.
This is a gutsy album that proves the only limits to musical growth are in the artist's mind. It is difficult to tell where Thrice will go musically after "Vheissu," but it is clear the album has opened the door for them to go just about anywhere.