Thrice
The Alchemy Index Vols. I & II

Release Date: 2007 | Tracklist

Thrice produced a lot of buzz within the hardcore community when they announced they would release 4 EPs that would each make up part of a complete concept album. The concept: each EP represents an element (Fire, Water, Earth, Air) to make up “The Alchemy Index.” A concept album is a pretty significant artistic venture for any band, and I think a lot of Thrice fans were excited for them to take such a big step. What music fan doesn’t like watching one of their favorite bands develop as artists and musicians? I, however, wasn’t really that impressed by the album, but I don’t really listen to much Thrice. So this here is a review from a different perspective.

I feel that there are two ways to approach an album review: you can review the album as a collection of songs, or you can review it as a complete work with each song contributing its own part to the album. While my approach is usually based of my reaction to the album, concept albums always fall under the first category while greatest hits records fall under the second. Since this is supposed to be a concept album, I plan to approach it the first way.

According to Roy Shuker’s Popular Music: The Key Concepts, a concept album is “an album that is ‘unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical.’” A pretty famous example is The Mars Volta’s “Deloused in the Comatorium.” This album was supposed to represent the story of a friend who fell into a coma after over-dosing on morphine and the fictional adventures he experienced within his own mind. Like any good concept album, each song, each chord progression, and each line contributed to the development of the story and the emotions of the characters throughout. You generally have to play a concept album from start to finish in order to understand the whole significance of the theme, because even the order of the songs is an important part of its development. Shuffling the songs on “Deloused in the Comatorium” would be the musically equivalency of shuffling the chapters of a book.

That being said, Thrice’s “The Alchemy Index” is a pretty weak concept album in my opinion. First of all, the concept itself is not all that creative. They are certainly not the first to write an album or a song that is meant to portray water or fire in some way. The difference is, they decided to make a whole EP with 4 different elements rather than a song about fire or an album about water. Second of all, their portrayal of said elements isn’t even that creative. The fire album is marked by heavy, aggressive music with lyrics about fire, burning, and destruction. The water album is slower, smoother, and marked with lyrics about water, drowning, or drifting away (with the exception of Night Diving, the only instrumental song on the album). There isn’t a single track on the Fire EP that doesn’t contain the words “fire” or “flame” in the lyrics and there isn’t a single track on the Water EP that doesn’t contain the words “water” or “sea” in the lyrics. We get it. The Fire EP is about fire and the Water EP is about water. I would have preferred some more creative ways to approach an album about either of these two elements, but I was personally unimpressed.

Not only is the concept itself weak, but the songs aren’t really a cohesive unit, but a mere collection of songs about either water or fire. For the most part, you could shuffle the songs of each EP and probably get the same reaction you would if you listened to the album in its original order. Firebreather only marks the beginning of the album because of its position, not because it represents the beginning of the development of a theme. For this reason, fire and water aren’t themes for these EPs, they are motifs. An album based on a motif isn’t that profound; it’s not really even much of a concept album. A Christmas caroling CD, a collection of songs about Christmas, is not a concept album about Christmas. If they wanted fire to be a theme, maybe they could make the first song about smoke slowly creeping into a room, another about the beauty and mystery of fire itself, another about fire as a destructive force, and maybe another about a place after it hass been devastated by a fire. Such a structure would be a true concept album, developing from start to finish to develop a central theme, rather than a motif shared by each of the songs. That’s not to say that Thrice should have created a whole story about fire and its steps, but I feel that there are simply different ways to approach a song about water or fire, simply by examining a different quality of fire or water. Not only is fire aggressive and destructive as it is portrayed in most of the songs off the Fire EP; its also mysterious, seductive, beautiful, passionate. Same thing with water: there’s more to water than a melancholy “lost at sea” feel, which is what a lot of the songs came off to me as (to be fair though, “Kings Upon the Main” and “The Flame Deluge” begin to explore these two elements from different angles).

With all that being said about the nature of the album itself, the songs by themselves are not that bad. They certainly aren’t the best songs I’ve ever heard, but the songs are decent for what they are. Like any CD (even concept albums) there are good songs and bad songs. Generally, if you like heavy, aggressive songs, you’ll probably like songs from the Fire EP. If you like quieter, smoother, melancholy songs you’ll probably like songs from the Water EP. I would enjoy listening to any of these songs spread out, I just got sick of six songs in a row with a similar sound revolved around the same motif.

Musically, the album is pretty solid. There wasn’t anything that really stood out to me, but I can’t say I didn’t like it. What I felt it lacked though, was originality. To be honest, I can’t compare it to older Thrice stuff because I’m not too familiar with it. I can say though, that it wasn’t anything I haven’t heard before. I would compare the sounds of the fire album with work from Mastodon and These Arms Are Snakes: heavy and aggressive, and mostly dark with some optimistic tones coming out every once and a while (think the end of fire breather). I would compare the sounds of the water album with parts of Isis’s Oceanic, and slightly like Radiohead’s Kid A. The Radiohead connection became a little clearer to me after a few listens, and I still don’t think the water album is quite there. The experimentation with muffled instruments, distorted drums, and various electronic effects is interesting, and I’m sure a big venture for Thrice, but it wasn’t anything too radical compared to Kid A. In one sentence: the music is pretty good, but certainly nothing that hasn’t been done.

I think the strongest aspect of the album is the individual lyrics for each song. I’ll admit I was pretty harsh about the lyrics as a contribution to the overall concept, but I don’t mean to undermine the value of each individual song. Not every song is a lyrical masterpiece, but some of the songs have lyrics that could be good poetry without the music. Obvious examples are the last two tracks, which are written in sonnet form. “The Flame Deluge” writes from the actual perspective of fire, used by war-hungry men for destruction despite its original purpose. “Kings on the Main” writes from the perspective of the sea, warning those who wish to explore of its power, but still offering the possibility of grace.

To summarize: weak concept, ok music, and pretty decent lyrics. If I were to rate this album based on an average rating of each individual song (musically and lyrically), I would probably give it a 3; good, but nothing too impressive. However, as this is an album review, my rating is based on the album as a complete work. I gave the album as a whole a 2, but I don’t exactly agree with what the rating system considers a ‘2.’ “Poor” is too strong of a word to define this album. I didn’t think the album was that bad, I just thought it was below average. Unfortunately, the next level down from “average” on this system is “poor,” so that’s just the way things work out. I know a lot of you will disagree with this review, but understand this is a minority opinion of the album.

Keep in mind- Thrice still has two more EPs left to complete the entire “Alchemy Index,” which is supposed to be the overall theme. It’s very possible that the 4 “elements” combined will create an overlying theme that will be more profound than the actual EPs themselves. I’m interested to see how all four sonnets will tie together. As single EPs though, I wasn’t really that impressed.

Overall: C-

Recommended Tracks: Firebreather, Burn the Fleet, Open Water, Lost Continent

Recommended Tracks: Firebreather, Burn the Fleet, Open Water, Lost Continent

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4 excellent

Rank: #147 for 2007