EP Review
Thrice - The Alchemy Index: Vols 3 and 4 Air And EarthThrice - The Alchemy Index: Vols 3 and 4 Air And Earthr

Over the past few years Thrice have listened to all the feedback they have received and went away and came up with an idea that no one else has come up with yet. The band went away and wrote four new ep's that they hoped would capture the 4 elements of Fire, Water, Earth and Air. Each ep is 6 tracks long and being released as double ep's. The first release 'The Alchemy Index: Vols 1 And 2 Fire And Water' was released back in October 2007 and was a really interesting offering sounding completely different from anything Thrice have done before. Fire was the heavier ep and water was completely laid back and to be honest it was quite a shock listening to both disc's one after another and seeing such a change in music.

Thrice are now back with 'The Alchemy Index: Vols 3 And 4 Air And Earth'. The Air section of the double ep starts with 'Broken Lungs' a song about September 11, the lyrics are well written and come across so well, the song is quite laid back yet quite technical sounding with various different soundscapes on offer. 'Silver Wings' finishes the Air element and is my favourite track on the ep, it’s so softly spoken and features such laid back relaxing music. The whole of the Air element is extremely laid back and is not the kind of stuff you can imagine Thrice jumping around on stage to like they’re used to, instead the more mature sound will leave for a more intimate Thrice experience on the live circuit, just don’t forget your lighters. The clever thing about the Air element is the way that the whole of the 6 tracks on the ep are based on air in someway such as in the form of breathing, flying, the sky etc, the soft music and vocals also add to the element and really bring Air to life.

The Earth element of the double ep, is quite interesting too, the ep is very acoustic sounding, which gives the strong sounding vocals time to fully shine through. The opening track 'Moving Mountains' is vocally very strong, yet lyrically quite repetitive; the backing music on offer is acoustic and quite minimal. The guitar riffs on 'The Earth Isn't Humming' are pretty good, the backing music in the song has the feel of something Tool would come up with and the vocals once again stand out. 'Come all You Weary' is the strongest track on the Earth element due to it being the only song to feature an electric guitar, it’s a lot different from the rest of the ep but still sounds quite stripped down in sound. The Earth element finishes with 'Child Of Dust' a song that is quite eerie sounding and gives you the feeling that you are attending a funeral, the song features group vocals that fade away slowly before completely stopping, giving you the freaky feeling that you are slowly falling asleep when you’re not.

It’s interesting to know that Thrice wrote and recorded all four elements of 'The Alchemy Index' at the same time as they sound so different from each other. Thrice have transformed themselves from your average American hardcore band to become a truly impressive experimental rock band who have created a variety of musical moods and soundscapes. It’s hard to pick a favourite element from the 4 ep’s Thrice have released in the past 6 months but what I will say is that each ep is enjoyable in its own way and you will find yourself listening to the different ep's at different times depending on your mood.

4/5

Review by Trigger
 Band Members
Thrice - Band
Teppei Teranishi (Guitar)
Ed Breckenridge (Bass)
Dustin Kensrue (Vocals, Guitar)
Riley Breckenridge (Drums)
 Track Listing
Disc 1 - Air
Broken Lungs
Sky Is Falling
Song For Milly Michaelson
Daedalus
As The Crow Flies
Silver Wings

Disc 2 - Earth
Moving Mountains
Digging My Own Grave
Earth Isn't Humming
Lion And The Wolf
Come All You Weary
Child Of Dust
 Band Related Links
Thrice Official Website
Thrice Myspace
 Review Score Code
- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
- What Was That?