Thrice: Vheissu
The post-hardcore band, Thrice, released its latest albumVheissu a few weeks ago, to less fanfare than Switchfoot’s Nothing is Sound, but with an equality of lyrics that some may have missed. While the band’s edges blur as they mix their emo/screamer roots with more auditory pleasing sounds of the keyboard, the piano and the accordion. And the root of the title? Drummer Riley Breckenridge told Rolling Stone that it stands for the “mouth of a cluster of tunnels beneath Mount Vesuvius� because they see themselves “standing at the gateway to a bunch of different tunnels,� not knowing “how things are going to end up. You just have to pick a tunnel and go.�
In “Image of the Invisible,� frontman Dustin Kensrue sings “We’re more than carbon and chemicals/free will is ours and we can’t let go.� Desiring to be known and recognized, the band derives its purpose and meaning from something bigger than itself, that results in the world’s derision. Admittedly, pursuing these grand proposals is hard, in “Between the End and Where We Lie,� as the singer struggles to find the door, recognizing that there is much more outside. Speaking to the human condition, Thrice believes that better things await outside but finding the way out has become more difficult. Light becomes the imagery by which deliverance comes—“daylight, they tell me it’s just a myth/they try to betray me with a kiss/daylight, they tell me that it can’t exist/they might never know just what they missed.� The struggle continues, but the outcome shows the light in his grey eyes.
I have to hear “The Earth Will Shake� in terms of Paul and Silas, imprisoned in Acts—I’ll leave that for you, the reader, to listen and evaluate for yourself. “Atlantic� skips by too briefly as I’m a big fan of ocean imagery, and the semi-dream state shows promise. “For Miles� goes back to seeking the future for all its potential in peace and love. In this future, pain will pass away and we’ll be able to see how we learned from it: “As long as we live, every scar is a bridge to someone’s broken heart/and there’s no greater love, than that one shed his blood for his friends.� I don’t think Thrice is hiding anything, but the allusion to Jesus’ statements and life choices seems to be pretty boldly presented here. They propose that we “open the wounds and share them then soon they start to heal.� So we must give something up to cause healing in return? Seems like a safe bet.
“Hold Fast Hope� seems to be a visually-descriptive interpretation of the Book of Jonah as our decisions bring us down but our repentance can reunite us with grace. This grace is ours, sings Thrice in “Music Box�: “we are not alone, we feel an unseen love/we are sons and heirs of grace/we are children of a light that never dims/a love that never dies, keep your chin up child/and wipe the tears from your eyes.� They again refer to the light, as “we are children of light<� and present their hope for a better life. Sometimes that better life takes us through suffering and sometimes through self-incrimination as Peter discovers (as he breaks bread with Jesus and betrays him later) in “Like Moths to a Flame.�
Hope rises again in “Of Dust and Heaven,� but Thrice artfully references hope in more than material goods and success. In “Stand and Feel Your Worth,� breaking bread again becomes a point of reference, as well as baptism in “we are fuel and fire both, we are water/wed with wine and ghost.� This song also references baptism, death, and salvation, so it’s a decent profession of Thrice’s faith. I wish the album would’ve ended there as “Red Sky� is much more opaque, but I think the close hinges on this: “and soon the sea will give up her dead/we’ll raise an empire from the bottom of the sea.�
From beginning to end, Thrice recognizes their shortcomings but continually presents the eternal hope they have. I hope that folks will give the new album a listen, and consider the hope that Thrice has for themselves.
In “Image of the Invisible,� frontman Dustin Kensrue sings “We’re more than carbon and chemicals/free will is ours and we can’t let go.� Desiring to be known and recognized, the band derives its purpose and meaning from something bigger than itself, that results in the world’s derision. Admittedly, pursuing these grand proposals is hard, in “Between the End and Where We Lie,� as the singer struggles to find the door, recognizing that there is much more outside. Speaking to the human condition, Thrice believes that better things await outside but finding the way out has become more difficult. Light becomes the imagery by which deliverance comes—“daylight, they tell me it’s just a myth/they try to betray me with a kiss/daylight, they tell me that it can’t exist/they might never know just what they missed.� The struggle continues, but the outcome shows the light in his grey eyes.
I have to hear “The Earth Will Shake� in terms of Paul and Silas, imprisoned in Acts—I’ll leave that for you, the reader, to listen and evaluate for yourself. “Atlantic� skips by too briefly as I’m a big fan of ocean imagery, and the semi-dream state shows promise. “For Miles� goes back to seeking the future for all its potential in peace and love. In this future, pain will pass away and we’ll be able to see how we learned from it: “As long as we live, every scar is a bridge to someone’s broken heart/and there’s no greater love, than that one shed his blood for his friends.� I don’t think Thrice is hiding anything, but the allusion to Jesus’ statements and life choices seems to be pretty boldly presented here. They propose that we “open the wounds and share them then soon they start to heal.� So we must give something up to cause healing in return? Seems like a safe bet.
“Hold Fast Hope� seems to be a visually-descriptive interpretation of the Book of Jonah as our decisions bring us down but our repentance can reunite us with grace. This grace is ours, sings Thrice in “Music Box�: “we are not alone, we feel an unseen love/we are sons and heirs of grace/we are children of a light that never dims/a love that never dies, keep your chin up child/and wipe the tears from your eyes.� They again refer to the light, as “we are children of light<� and present their hope for a better life. Sometimes that better life takes us through suffering and sometimes through self-incrimination as Peter discovers (as he breaks bread with Jesus and betrays him later) in “Like Moths to a Flame.�
Hope rises again in “Of Dust and Heaven,� but Thrice artfully references hope in more than material goods and success. In “Stand and Feel Your Worth,� breaking bread again becomes a point of reference, as well as baptism in “we are fuel and fire both, we are water/wed with wine and ghost.� This song also references baptism, death, and salvation, so it’s a decent profession of Thrice’s faith. I wish the album would’ve ended there as “Red Sky� is much more opaque, but I think the close hinges on this: “and soon the sea will give up her dead/we’ll raise an empire from the bottom of the sea.�
From beginning to end, Thrice recognizes their shortcomings but continually presents the eternal hope they have. I hope that folks will give the new album a listen, and consider the hope that Thrice has for themselves.
2 Comments:
Good review. I'm fascinated by the way that several Christian media sites have suddenly decided to recommend Thrice with this album. Thrice's 2003 release, The Artist in the Ambulance, was pivotol in my own redefinition of my spiritual journey, and this album continues the band's power in inspiring me. I've listened to Vheissu nearly once a day since first acquiring a leaked copy in early October, and the musical and lyrical beauty present here still stun me. The album maintains a haunting feel that exists in every song, yet it still exudes hope in a way that I haven't noticed in the previous two albums from Thrice. Also, I saw these guys live just last week, and while they didn't make any remarks like Underoath who opened for them ("We're only able to do this because of the grace of Jesus Christ"), they still presented the same love and hope shown in their music. I suppose these guys have somehow become role models of sorts for me. I think I could do worse....
-Mysti
while its easy to get held up in lyrics and the power that bands such as thrice may have over die hard fans, its also easy to forget that a large amount of music listeners are here for the sounds and not for the words. Full on Thrice fans could be excused for being dissappointed if they were after a rapid tempo and thrashy album which is for one reason why i think they took a big step in the wrong direction, that is if by wrong direction i mean the money machine market that is emo.
Post a Comment
<< Home