THRICE “The Alchemy Index Vols. I & II”
Oh THRICE…. THRICE, THRICE, THRICE. In what should be renamed as the “ISIS & RADIOHEAD Chronicles,” California’s THRICE further distance themselves from their early hardcore and metal leanings and swoop in with a bipolar set of musical characteristics. Fire and Water are the much ballyhooed six song EPs that comprise this singular release (though each are available on their own digitally). Fire continues the fleshing out of the barge-heavy mid-tempo sound that dominated the band’s prior release, Vheissu, while Water is the uber-hyped “quiet” and experimental side that the band has been longing to embrace. Both EPs feature Dustin Kensrue’s expectedly vague lyrics and while the music of THRICE continues to mutate and evolve, the band remains consistent in forcing the listener to draw meaning on their own.
So how do these score against one another? Fire is riveting and remarkably tight, and Kensrue sorta comes off as a less creepy sounding Chino Moreno. The recording, handled by the band, doesn’t quite pack the immediate freight-train rush that Vheissu feeds off of, but the songs themselves from the Fire EP are dense and flowing – a combination that allows its 22 minutes to flicker by in a near instant.
The Water EP, however, might be more equated with a moderately less painful form of Chinese water torture. Musical competence notwithstanding, the majority of Water is simply limp and booooooring. “Digital Sea,” opens Water and its eerie, “floating in an abyss” vibe has the band off to a strong start, but from there, the ethereal features of THRICE only increase, and the sparseness of the band’s sound flirts between hypnotic and non-existent. If THRICE were to mix in a song like the instrumental “Night Diving” or “The Whaler,” between band staples like “Under A Killing Moon,” and “Deadbolt,” there’d be sandwich wrappers left across an entire venue.
I want to like Water and immerse myself in THRICE’s musical expansion, but this portion of the collection has the firmament of a mud puddle. When Vols. III and IV are released in 2008 to complete The Alchemy Index, I’m hoping that THRICE’s fire still burns.
Vagrant
