Thrice shed some of their recent bluesy trappings in favor of the cinematic atmosphere of earlier works such as Alchemy Index and Vheissu, for a stirring and largely successful companion to H/E. Even amongst a discography and sonic palette as diverse as what Thrice has established this is quite the eclectic smattering of styles, experimentation, and genre-blending: there is no shortage of creativity and inventiveness on display here.rIt's not a perfect album. While H/W avoids H/E sin of sometimes songs dragging on a bit long, most of the tracks here could have benefited from at least one more section to really achieve their full potential (looking at 'Dark Gloom', 'Vesper Light', 'Holding On', and 'Gnash' -- for comparison, 'Distant Suns' in my opinion is the only track that really hits the sweet spot of not over-staying its welcome but also providing a much-welcomed final reprisal of the chorus). This album also demonstrates a somewhat annoying tendency towards an extremely stripped-down bridge of Dustin crooning over a single guitar part, which tends to kill all momentum the song had built up.rAnd so it's an album that proves to be more of a sibling to, indeed, Vheissu and Alchemy Index, while perhaps unfortunately lacking some of those albums' grandeur.
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