Vheissu

Thrice | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 18, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Island
• ASIN: B000AYQO2O
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (184 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,209 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #40 in Music > Alternative Rock > Hardcore & Punk > Post Hardcore

Editorial Reviews

"Image of the Invisible," the album's first single, starts with the sound of Morse code, then shifts into a stuttery beat before being consumed by post-punk guitar clamor and clattering drums. Just as it reaches its most aggressive point, tuneful call-and-response vocals flow through the mix, counteracting the menacing vibe. Then there is "Atlantic," which features drifty, echoing keyboards and acoustic strumming and "Like Moths To Flame," a sonic see-saw filled with moody piano, marching drums and a visceral wall of guitars.

"Our biggest goal was to make something different, even if we didn't know at first exactly what that meant," singer Dustin Kensrue says. "We just knew we wanted it to be atmospheric and create a space you could kind of live in. Our records have been kind of flat and two dimensional in the past, so we definitely wanted to try to do something more open sounding." "I think I just got a little burned out on really aggressive, heavy music," adds drummer Riley Breckenridge. "Suddenly, the stuff that was moving me was not inspiring me to get all riled up and want to tear somebody's head off, but something that had really dramatic dynamics and mood swings with the way the chords moved from verse to chorus."

Unlike their past albums, which were penned during downtime from touring, Thrice came up with many of the ideas for Vheissu while they were on the road supporting their 2003 record The Artist in the Ambulance. The extra time the band gained from writing in the bus gave them the ability to experiment without worrying about having to meet an impending deadline. "In the beginning, we were actually swinging a lot further left than this record even is," says Kensrue. "We were writing really slow, really weird stuff, but I think it was good for us to be able to push our boundaries like that, then come back to a place where we were still pushing out, but at the same time doing something that was more of a logical step from the last record."

Even after the songs were streamlined a bit, the songs were still packed with startling, ingenious touches, like the chain gang chorus that cuts through the murky, multifaceted strains of "The Earth Will Shake," the sparse piano and underwater drum sounds of "Of Dust And Nations" and the swelling oppressive guitars in "For Miles," which build like a sky full of dark clouds before erupting into a chaotic thunderstorm. One of the most alluring tracks is "Music Box," in which a haunting Japanese music box melody overlaps a procession of lumbering beats, crashing guitars, angular licks and acoustic jangle.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Above And Beyond Expectations, May 10, 2006

By 

A. Estes (Maine) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vheissu (Audio CD)

When the band describes their past albums as two-dimensional, you kind of have to laugh. Anyone with ears can tell that Thrice have always been different. Thrice have always been above the competition, making music infinitely more challenging and satisfying than many of their peers. While bridging the gap between the Warped Tour and Ozzfest audiences, Thrice have put out three mature and lyrically profound albums, all while getting virtually no recognition from the mainstream. With "Vheissu," all that is likely to change. Something this good is improssible to ignore.

It's taken me quite a while to absorb this album. To sit down and actually write a review. Albums like this one are tricky to describe, especially in this case, where the music can't be categorized. I didn't know what to expect when I picked up this album in October, but what I heard that night on the ride home was not what I was expecting. Thrice have thrown us through a loop. "Vheissu" is more focused on lyrics and dense, mesmerizing musical landscapes. Nearly gone are the punch-to-the-gut riffs of Teppei Teranishi, while frontman Dustin Kensrue is put front and center, as best evidenced by "The Earth Will Shake" and the massive closing number, "Red Sky." Granted, "Hold Fast Hope" will feel like home, as will "Image Of The Invisible" and "Between The End And Where We Lie," but most of this album will take the average Thrice listener by surprise. The liner notes do an excellent job of showing where the band is coming from. In the beginning, the band cites Radiohead's "Kid A" and Deftones' "White Pony" as major inspirations, and perhaps that can give you an idea of what to expect. Thrice are simply a band tired of playing the same old kinds of songs, so on "Vheissu" they have created a new style for themselves.

You might not like it at first, but give it time. I promise no disappointment. If you discount this album, you'll be sorry later. It's quite simply a masterpiece. But then again, what did you expect from Thrice? They always deliver a hundred percent, above what is is expected. They blew away my expectations, and now I absolutely cannot wait to hear what these guys have in store for us next.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thrice are now an experimental metal band with hardcore tendencies, October 18, 2005

By 

Strobe Lights And Blown Speakers (Louisville) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vheissu (Audio CD)

So, basically, this album is amazing and certainly the best thing Thrice has done so far. It's so EPIC and well-crafted and their songwriting is even better and it's more experimental and eclectic and more condensed and concise and everything is there for a reason and the whole album is so WONDERFUL. The first track, "Image Of The Invisible" is catchy as all hell and so well-written. The second track is certainly a grower, with its electronic touches and more subdued atmosphere. To be honest, it's my least favorite song on the album, but I have grown to enjoy it a lot more on multiple listens. And I don't think it really fits with everything else on the album. But, after that, every song just gets BETTER and BETTER. The drumming is immense and the guitarwork is immense and the basswork is immense and the vocals are so f'ing good - Dustin has improved his vocal ability two-fold.

It's amazing how far this band has come - from a punk band with metal influences to a metal band with punk influences to a hardcore band with well-structured songs and experimental tendencies, and now to an experimental metal band with hardcore tendencies.

If you've ever enjoyed Thrice, this is THE album to check out. I think this is the album of the year, even moreso than the new Ulver and Dredg releases (which I can't stop listening to, either)

SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Admittedly, it takes time., December 9, 2005

By 

Brian A. Renner "Brian Renner" (Los Angeles, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vheissu (Dlx) (Dig) (Audio CD)

Since seeing Thrice at the Palace in Hollywood playing with AFI, I have since seen them five times in concert. And further in high school, I anxiously awaited Identity Crisis and The Illusion of Safety, snatching both immediately for my collection of rather varied musical tastes as they were released.

But this isn't the story of my Thrice fandom. This is the continued writing on the fresh pages of a band wishing nothing more than to refine and refind itself amongst the waves of musical ambiguity and banality so ever present in today's atmosphere.

The Artist in the Ambulance is arguably my favorite CD of all time, and given that precursor, I knew Thrice had the daunting task of impressing its fans following some of the most poignant and emotionally charged songs ever written for the genre of punk/metal/rock.

When first listening to Vheissu, I, like any good Thrice fan, expected to be immediately enveloped in thousands of evoked emotions, not to mention a thoroughly needed headbanging and air-guitar riffing session. But past Image of the Invisible, I set my air guitar up for the day, and waited for the "old Thrice" to roar out of my speakers. It wasn't until Hold Fast Hope that this happened again. But I listened through the album, and aside from the instant hits of Music Box and the previously mentioned Image of the Invisible, I didn't feel comfortable with what Thrice had just so eloquently tried to pass to me as a mature, new style. I gave it a week.

I decided to listen to the album all the way through once again, hoping this time to find something beyond the immediate gratification of hearing loud and angry noises in my ears. After letting go of my inhibitions, and possibly adhering to rather melancholy emotions, I began to hear what Thrice had in mind all along. The album left me stunned again, but this time, in an unexplainable bliss.

Listening to songs such as The Earth Will Shake, Like Moths to Flame, and Red Sky virtually were good transitions between a much softer side of Thrice, and the more rugged, hardcore image they have always portrayed. But where the CD really apexed was during the climactic For Miles, whose almost deceptively soft fluttering piano intro coalesces with a relatively slow melodic guitar, progressively pulling you in more, defying every notion one has about the song, and the band. This can really be said about the album as a whole.

As a summary, I would heartily recommend Thrice to any fan of new millenium rock, old Thrice, certain hardcore punk, and more. Everyone can find something to listen to on the album, if not the album in entirity.

But for longtime fans of Thrice, take my advice: don't throw it away just because you didn't hear exactly what you expected to hear. Your ears will thank you when you listen to it again.