Customer Reviews

Vheissu

5 star:		(115)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(19)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

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.

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!!!!!!!!!!

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.

Let's set the stage a little bit and put this album into perspective. At the peak of the popularity of nu-metal, the-genre leading Deftones released an album virtually 100% opposite of what anyone had expected in "The White Pony." Fast-forward to 2005 and enter Thrice's fourth studio album "Vheissu." "Vheissu" is to post-hardcore as "The White Pony" was to nu-metal, very possibly the album to destroy a lot of the garbage on television and radio right now. Thrice saw a sinking ship in a sound they helped pioneer and have written a completely new, heavy, and all around excellent album at the same time-a true testament to their own artistic abilities.

Is "Vheissu" my personal favorite album of theirs? No. But this is the most mature record they've ever written. The punk influence Thrice once had is virtually gone (except for a maybe a moment or two on "Between The End And Where We Lie"). And while at first this may come as a difficult adjustment to those use to early Thrice, upon repeated listens, listeners should be able to recognize the fact that there are parts on this album that are heavier than anything heard from Thrice before (The Earth Will Shake, Hold Fast Hope), parts that are more melodic than anything they've ever written (Atlantic, Music Box), and at other times are just downright haunting due to Dustin's phenomenel vocals and the bands ability to texture these songs far more than ever before (Stand And Feel Your Worth, Red Sky).

There's a lot of really groundbreaking ideas be used here such as the chaingang chants on "The Earth Will Shake,"(which contains an undeniable blues feel to it as does "Stand And Feel Your Worth), the music box sound which is interlaced through the track "Music Box"(go figure), and the tremendously organic feel of the entire album. Thrice experiments a lot more with piano here on tracks such as "Atlantic," "For Miles," and "Stand And Feel Your Worth." "Atlantic" is by far the mellowest song Thrice has ever written whereas "Hold Fast Hope" serves as the most consistently heavy track on the album. "For Miles" is a song that starts of melodic and slow and continues to build with each verse until exploding into one of the most aggressive parts on the entire album and is one of my personal favorites. Older listeners of Thrice will take note that the track lengths are considerably longer. No song clocks under 3:55, and everything else is above four minutes.

Will you understand this album the whole way through the first time? Most likely not, I didn't. But anyone who can't recognize that "Vheissu" is pretty much entirely against the grain of anything thats remotely popular right now probably shouldn't be listening to Thrice in the first place. Is there anything to complain about? Well, a few of the ladder tracks slow down to a pace that make them run into each other a bit, but once you familiarize yourself with all of the tracks this instantly turns into a fantastic album and one of the best of the year. Highly recommended. Highlight tracks include "The Earth Will Shake," "For Miles," "Red Sky," and "Music Box."

Thrice has changed. There is no doubt in that. I found it amusing to read the one-star reviews on here from toughguy metalheads that want to do spinning kicks and windmills in the pit. Wake up, guys. Thrice changed, not for better OR for worse. They are just different.

Songs like Red Sky or Atlantic are miles different from the old riff-ridden songs like Deadbolt or To Awake And Avenge The Dead, but to say that they suck would be incredibly stupid. Listen to Dust Of Nations and tell me the song sucks. It doesn't. Same goes for the other 10 tracks on this CD.

Song-by-song review:
Image of the invisible (3/5): It's good, it's just a little repetitive. Excellent single choice though. The rating for this song when played live changes to 5/5.

Between the end and where we lie (5/5): We are introduced to this new direction the guys are taking, and I could not be more happy with it. This song is awesome to sing along and relax to.

The earth will shake (5/5): The heaviest song Thrice has ever written. No, heaviness is NOT about being fast, loud and playing a lot of incredible riffs, "heaviness" refers to the atmosphere a song can create. The atmosphere in this song is incredibly heavy. Sounds a lot like Isis. Awesome stuff.

Atlantic (5/5): Beautiful. Pretty much 'nuff said. This is great stuff, and unlike the other "metal fans" on here, I'm not afraid to admit it.

For miles (perfect): Best song on the album, and IMO the best song Thrice has ever written to date. The song keeps changing, keeps building, until all energy is released in the breathtaking outro. If I would be given a choice to take ONE song on an iPod with me to a deserted island, it'd be this one.

Hold fast hope (5/5): Great. The most agressive song on the album, the intro just slaps you in the face.

Music box (5/5): Second best song on the album. Nothing special about it, it's just executed in a way that makes it irresistible. The music box that plays throughout the whole song makes me shiver, and the rest of the song fills me with happiness. If this CD had only For Miles and Music Box on it, I'd still have bought it.

Like moths to flame (4/5): I'm giving this a 4 because I just can't give every song on an album a 5. This just is a little less appealing than the other ones. Still way ahead anything the competition can throw at these guys.

Of dust and nations (5/5): I'm repeating myself, but this is great stuff. The way the song starts will give anyone goosebumps. That's a good thing.

Stand and feel your worth (4/5): Just like "Like moths to flame", this song is a little less good than the other ones. Great outro.

Red sky (5/5): Best way to ever end an album. The end of this song will fill the coldest heart with joy.

This CD, to me, is the best thing Thrice has ever done. Buy it, if you are dissapointed, you obviously do not have an open mind. The thing to do is sell it, not whine about it. And try again when you're matured.

This album is fantastic. I've been a fan of Thrice for so long, and I've picked up I think pretty much all of their CDs. I have to be honest though...it took a few play-throughs for me to find a liking for it. I honestly despised it at first. I could hardly believe it was Thrice. Gone was the raw energy, the thrashing, and...well...its more obvious now than it was then, but all the cliched lyrics. But if you look a little deeper, you see a polished, solid album. All the way through, its brilliant. There's so much depth, and such a great sound. I just couldn't get over how refined everything sounded, including Dustin's voice, compared to their older efforts. Its a whole new Thrice, but its Thrice done right. Very seldom do these sort of bands get to complete their visions and get everything exactly how they want it, but they did. I can't recommend a specific track, but just go pick up the CD as soon as you can.

This particular edition includes a nicely done (and somewhat thick) accompanying booklet with some extras in it, including information about the making of each song on the album. And along with the special case, is worth the extra money if you're into collecting or just...knowing as much about Thrice and this album as possible. It was well worth the little bit extra for me (it was only a couple more dollars when I got it).

I have been a Thrice fan since I heard the version of T & C from First Impressions with that crappy solo and Dragon Ball Z intro. And yet, unlike many of the so-called Thrice 'fans' posting reviews here, I have no problem saying that Vheissu is the best Thrice Album. Nothing will ever replace Illusion of Safety. Nothing. It is what it is. But Vheissu is better. The guys aren't 19 anymore, they have grown up, their musical tastes progressed. If a Thrice fan has a negative review of this album, it is because they have a short-sighted, narrow, and poor understanding of the wide musical spectrum. A fan of music is not someone who likes only hardcore, or only punk, or only emo. A fan of music understands that music is music, and is valid in all its forms. Thrice, with this album, has done something new, and yet retained their identity. This is no crisis of identity, this is just Thrice, grown up, making their most mature songs to date.

Has anyone who rated this album one or two stars on the basis of it being "emo crap" ever even listened to emo, or this cd? Emo for me is represented by acoustic groups such as Dashboard Confessional, punk-ish bands like Brand New and Hawthorne Heights, etc. Thrice was never truly punk, although it does seem to be influenced by post hardcore. The guitar riffs are pure metal, hard, well defined, and extremely well played. Perhaps fans try too hard to clearly categorize their favorite bands. Vheissu has no relation to 3 and four chord punk music, as it is far more sophisticated and progressive. Elements of ambient, metal, and progressive rock styles combine to form one of the most unique sounds I have ever heard. The quality is so far above that of emo and punk, it is simple blasphemy to label them as such. When I first heard this album, I knew I had never heard anything similar. Even the gap in quality between Vheissu and Artist in the Ambulance is large. I love Artist, but it is not nearly as original and experimental as Vheissu. Religious and political themes give the album depth, and I appreciate them even though I am myself an atheist. It shows that the artists in this band are serious about what they write. I believe people's main, secret problem with Vheissu is that it is intellectual. It is unlike the stereotype fans had attached to Thrice. It is unlike anything I have ever heard, at times soft and orchestral, at others hard edged and angry, but always honest and original. Perhaps the progressive nature of the music is abhorrent to faithful metal and punk audiences alike, but I would argue that any lover of music should at least appreciate the talent and creativity that is Thrice.

I first learnt of Thrice through TAITA, and when it came out people were complaining that it was too mainstream and cut-down compared to IC and IOS. I personally loved it, and after that purchased the two afforementioned albums as well. I enjoyed them also, and now after a long period of waiting Vheissu has surfaced.

Well, what can I say. As someone who has enjoyed Thrice in the past for Dustin's cutting and heartfelt vocals, Teppei's immense riffing, Riley's great little time changes and Ed's huge, booming Drop C bass sound- I can safely say that this album has very little of what I enjoyed from the last three albums. Riffs now take a back seat to soundscapes and the bass isn't quite as thick, whilst Dustin has changed his vocal style. Riley still does a pretty good job on the drums though. Sure, it creates a different musical bed because of the guitar patterns that are laid over it, but its still pretty good.

All in all, this doesn't sound like Thrice to me. I associated Thrice with the attributes I mentioned above and they've changed their sound completely. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure this is a pretty good album, but there's nothing here that I was looking forward to. Instead we get a mish-mash of other band's styles (Radiohead/Coldplay/Mars Volta, to name three). Thats why I think this album deserves two scores. One for big fans of Thrice's old style, and one for Thrice virgins who would be less likely to compare this album to their older works.

For the former I'd give this a 2/5, and for the latter I'd give it a 4/5. Why? Cause I know that this is probably an excellent album. I just cannot see it yet because I'm still left with the taste of something new. I'm going to listen to it a little more, and maybe that familiar Thrice brilliance will shine through, only in a different shade.

PS. If you feel that this review is abusive, know this; Constructive criticism of a band helps them evolve. If Thrice heard nothing but unconditional praise for everything they did, they'd put no effort in whatsoever. Remember that. If it makes you feel like any more of a fanboy though, go ahead and click "no." I'm sure it'll tickle you in all the right places.

this is frustrating... Many bands from the late nineties whom i am a huge fan of...like Thrice... are evolving musically and lyrically...some for the good...some for the bad...even after only comming out with 2 or 3 albums.... this is something for all of us to get used to...especially those who hate change..(like me).There is one positive thing I can say about this fourth album that Thrice has come out with...I enjoyed the haunting and captivating harmonies they have thrown into a couple of their tracks. And my favorite track on this cd is Music box...because its the only track that comes close to Teppei's (lead guitarist) "up and down the neck of the guitar" skills... I am very dissapointed about the fact that i dont hear any synchronised solo's or riffs on this album...Teppei is probably one of the best guitarists (behind the greats of course). I was hyped for this album to come out as soon as I heard about it. But not too hyped of course because i have been dissapointed with many of the recent albums i have purchased. but anyway, Thrice, its game time, get Teppei back into play on the next album and alot more fans will be releived ( he is key!!!)I give this album three stars just because i have been a huge fan for a while and cant go any lower out of respect for Teppei. I would also like to comment on the people who say some of us are stupid for not listening to the cd??? listen to ME.... people have their own opinions... that should be clear in everyones head... ive listened to the cd over and over on my computer today (busy doing school work) So am I stupid for not listening to the whole cd thouroughly and not liking it? ... no
anyways these reviews should be strictly about giving opinions not shooting down other customers reviews
so all of you big fans of Thrice, rock on, and hope this review helped clarify a couple knicks and knacks!!
Im Mike from kenmore
take care