After the decent first half of Thrice's
Alchemy Index,
the band have hit back with the third and fourth volumes, Air
and
Earth,
and it's here things go from good to great.
Where as the first half was a little hamstringed by a less than
consistent opening volume, this one starts out great and keep going
from there.
Air
is
perhaps the dark horse of The
Alchemy Index,
having no real identity of it's own, compared to the aggression of
Fire,
the experiments of Water
and the acoustics of Earth.
Here we range from the anthemic hard rock of Broken
Lungs to
The Sky Is
Falling,
which sounds like a slightly more experimental version of something
we'd see on Fire,
with
it's handclaps and keyboards, to the acoustics of As
The Crow Flies.
Despite sounding like a collection of songs that wouldn't quite fit
on to the other three discs, Air
ultimately
prevails due to the songs being strong throughout. Daedalus
is
my personal favorite on this disc, it's opening quiet-loud dynamics
building to an emotional climax. Dustin Kensrue's vocals have
certainly matured since the early days, and he sounds like a
completely different person compared to the standard post-hardcore
frontman who sang on The
Illusion Of Safety. The
only clunker here is closer Silver
Wings,
which is entirely too short to turn into anything of note, and sounds
just like something deemed not good enough to go on Water.
Still, compared to the way Fire
got
the last release off to a wobbly start, this is a masterpiece.
The
band have saved the best for last with the final disc, Earth.
It's a collection of acoustic songs, closer in spirit to Dustin
Kensrue's solo album. It's been produced entirely differently to the
other three discs, with a more atmospheric sound picking up far more
of the room's natural ambience. It's certainly nice to hear something
more initmate, and it's a definite breath of fresh air after the
denser more layered fare we've encountered earlier along the way. Of
course, intimacy and atmosphere would all be for naught if the songs
weren't any good, but the band have rustled up some belters to play
us out. The country-tinged Moving
Mountains might
well be my favorite track on the entire Alchemy
Index,
and indeed one of my top 5 songs of the year so far. Digging
My Own Grave is
quite an unusual piece, sounding like it's being played in a smoky
nightclub with it's accordion, fingerclicks, and is that a honky-tonk
in there somewhere? There's even a nod to the band's influences here,
with a cover of post-hardcore pioneers Frodus'
The Earth Isn't
Humming.
I can't comment on the original, but here it fits in perfectly, so
much so that I was unaware it was a cover at first. Unfortunately the
EP suffers from the same problem as Air,
in
that it closes with a very short song that never goes anywhere, only
this time there's a minute of annoying bumping and scratching to
finish it off. Still, you're getting five top-flight acoustic tracks
here.
As
with all double albums, there's a little bit of filler to wade
through, but as a whole
The Alchemy Index gives
you 18 songs worth listening to, a feat that not many double albums
manage. Although these volumes are the highlights, the first two are
definitely worth picking up to complete the set. Oh, and a portion of
the profits go to charity too, so there really is no reason for you
not to go out and buy this.