Thrice -- The Alchemy Index (Parts I, II, III, IV)

Fire: 8/10

Water: 9/10

Wind: 7.5/10

Earth: 8.5/10

Alchemy Index Vols. I & II: 8.5/10

Alchemy Index Vols. III & IV: 8/10

Overall Alchemy Index: 9/10

I'm a sucker for concept albums. Always have been. Must be the creative writing major in me. I want everything to be a narrative. Even my music. Going concept is the only way certain bands have gotten me into them, even if it's extremely temporary. 

I even bought a Greenday album once. 

Thrice most definitely sucked me in this way, not only causing me to forget that I'm not really into their music for several albums after The Alchemy Index, but getting me to buy a couple of their previous ones. The band did this with the elementally themed Alchemy Index, promising to thematically fit the sound of four E.P.'s to that of Fire, Water, Wind, and Earth. They released these in two separate packages, 2007's The Alchemy Index Vols. I & II: Fire and Water and 2008's The Alchemy Index Vols. III & IV: Wind and Earth.
Up to this point, I not only found Thrice to be fairly generic, but frankly, too young for me, because that sounds like something I would do. After hearing Thrice announce this lofty project, though, and hearing that indeed, the sample track for Fire sounded fiery, and Water watery, I was all in. My favorite albums from the 00's up to that point were the high-concepted Kid A and Amnesiac by Radiohead, and The Appleseed Cast's Low Level Owl: Volume I and Volume II. Instead of following in the sort-of experimentalish metalcorish path of their previous work (or at least, this was my impression of their previous work), this seemed like an all-new Thrice. I picked up Fire and Water in early 2008 from The Compact Disc Store, and had myself a great time. 

Fire takes the heavy elements of Thrice's previous work and pumps them up with back-alley steroids. I particularly enjoy the absolutely volcanic finale, "The Flame Deluge." Lyricist/vocalist, Dustin Kensrue, does a great job of finding some fitting subject matter to go with the element, and helps contribute heavily to the band maintaining the concept album feel. A lot of these songs are narratives, with characters or passionate narrators strongly intent on often revolutionary goals. Kensrue also provided the artwork for these E.P.'s, line drawings that enforce the narratives of the songs, as well as a certain ancient historical and mythological vibe. It's like Kensrue was specifically trying to make me a fan of his band here.

Water is smooth and heavily electronic, with opener, "Digital Sea," very reminiscent of Radiohead's "Everything in its Right Place." Water contains some beautiful tracks, like the soaring, mysterious "Open Water," as well as the visual-conjuring instrumental rock of "Night Diving." The E.P. closes with "Kings Upon the Main," making something clear from the Fire disc (the physical copies of the E.P.'s have an individual disc for each element): each Volume will end with a song from the perspective of that volume's respective element, with all four songs ending in a final couplet, featuring the same melody and form. Very cool!

The second E.P. isn't quite as strong as the first, though it's still quite good. Vol. III: Air starts off with "Broken Lungs," featuring the lousiest, clumsiest lyrics on this set, centering around 9/11 conspiracy theories. Musically, the band tries to show off all facets of wind, with light and airy verses, and heavier choruses, including a crushing outro. As wind is a little tougher to define, at least apparently for Thrice, this volume is maybe the most scattershot. "The Sky Is Falling" is next, a jittery rock song, leading into "A Song for Milly Michaelson," which is based upon a TV movie about a boy who could fly. It's not the most exciting track, though it does work as a good buildup for this volume's standout, "Daedalus," which is based upon the myth of the same name. It's a soaring, yet heartbreaking song from Daedalus' point-of-view, exploring his emotions as he watches his willful son, Icarus, fall to his death. This is followed by the gentle, "As the Crow Flies," which features some beautiful harmonies between Kensrue and himself, with the Wind-ender, "Silver Wings" following suit.

Finally, we've got Earth, where the band try their hand at a more roots rock sound. They actually do a pretty good job here with this more organic sound, creating a great sense of finality, in the way that the E.P.'s seem structured to both culminate with what C.S. Lewis called "the true myth" on "Come All You Weary," and then a burial on the closer "Child of Dust," where the Earth promises to teach one of its fallen children "truly how to sleep." Excellent stuff.

Yes, excellent stuff. I really enjoy these E.P.'s. I've come to realize I'm not a huge Thrice fan, but I love what they did here. The Alchemy Index E.P.'s are truly The Nicsperiment-bait. I think the individual volumes are all solid, the E.P.'s themselves are very good, and altogether as one, the whole is a great, very cohesive and satisfying package.

2007 Vagrant

Vol. I: Fire 

1. Firebreather 4:24
2. The Messenger 2:09
3. Backdraft 4:08
4. The Arsonist 4:13
5. Burn the Fleet 3:46
6. The Flame Deluge 3:27

Vol. II: Water
1. Digital Sea 3:44
2. Open Water 3:46
3. Lost Continent 4:30
4. Night Diving 6:02
5. The Whaler 4:09
6. Kings Upon the Main 4:56

2008 Vagrant
Vol III: Air
1. Broken Lungs 4:14
2. The Sky Is Falling 4:21
3. A Song for Milly Michaelson 5:07
4. Daedalus 6:00
5. As the Crow Flies 2:22
6. Silver Wings 2:10

Vol IV: Earth
1. Moving Mountains 2:55
2. Digging My Own Grave 3:04
3. The Earth Isn't Humming (Frodus cover) 4:58
4. The Lion and the Wolf 2:42
5. Come All You Weary 4:08
6. Child of Dust 3:09