Thrice - The Alchemy Index, Vols. 1&2: Fire & Water
Xavier Merchant
Published on 1/11/18 - Album Review
The Alchemy Index Volumes 1&2 debuted on October 16 2007. It is Thrice’s 5th studio album after their 4th album “Vheissu.”
The Alchemy index is a two part album with twelve songs on it.
The first half of the album represents the element fire, which represents aggression, anger, recklessness, destruction, heaviness, and distortion.
While writing the first half of the album Thrice wanted a heavy sound still, but not as heavy as their previous albums.
The songs "The Messenger" and "Backdraft" are straight up weird in their electronics and melodics. “Firebreather” (The first song of the album) starts off with heavy riffing that continues throughout. The rest of the song ends with a less heavy and with more warmth, really capturing the “Fire” elemental feel.
Thrice has also done really a good job with incorporating B6 scale degrees into their major chords. It gives their songs a sweeping, romantic feel despite whatever heaviness Thrice is also imposing on the listener. It ensures that no matter how unwieldy the pure, fiery qualities of the disc are, Thrice does not lose their sense of melody or harmony. They're not just creating chugging riffs, but are making riffs that sing.
"The Flame Deluge" literally gives the listener a complete deluge of the heaviness cultivated on the fire disc. At the end of “The Flame Deluge” the song transitions into a nice melodic sound with harmonies and a great ending, leading the listener straight into the “Water” part of the album.
The Water volume is a perfect contrast to the Fire volume. Water feels more calm, sedate, and feels like you’re being wrapped in the waves of the ocean. On their last album “Vheissu” a few of their songs related to the “Water” feel thrice was going for such as “Red Sky” and “Atlantic.” With more electronic drum type of beats on the water side of the album, it draws the listener to the vast contrast between the two sides of the album.
The “Whaler” has wonderful vocal performance from Dustin Kensrue (lead singer of Thrice) and a crazy, groovy beat with synths and vocal harmonies at the end. “Night Diving” is a captivating instrumental with a powerful bridge that catches the listener off guard. "Lost Continent" has the most compelling production on the whole album, it’s “ambient tones working perfectly with the piano and guitar." Teppei Teranishi (the lead guitarist) has an old feeling to the tone of his piano with a reverb sound.
“Kings of the Main” the last song on the Water disc is beautifully written with some of the best lyrics from Dustin. Dustin's vocals represent sadness and yearning that adds a new layer to the album over the course of the song. At the end of the song, it ends with another vocal harmony that forms a pattern at the end of the next two volumes of the “Alchemy Index” which continues Thrice's story of emotion and the elements.