Thrice
To Be Everywhere is To Be Nowhere
Written and submitted by Matt Drago - Bassist/Vox in Caster
Let me start off by saying this: as someone who considers himself a “Thrice” fan, I never LOVED anything after Vheissu. I enjoyed listening to all of their work and hearing them grow and progress as musicians, but some of it was just not doing it for me. That being said, The Artist In The Ambulance still ranks as one of my top 10 favorite records of all time, but albums like The Alchemy Index: Vol I-IV felt disjointed, like there were 4 or 5 different bands performing, and sometimes it was almost too much going on at once.
But I digress. I am here to review Thrice’s latest album To Be Everywhere Is To be Nowhere. The opening track starts off with a nice spacey acoustic sequence that picks up where Thrice left off in their previous albums, and I don’t hate it at all. Then, out of nowhere, a powerful sound pumped out of my speakers, and the next thing I knew, I found myself back in The Artist In The Ambulance era. That same alternation of sounds continues throughout at least 10 tracks. Songs like “Blood on the sand”, “Black Honey”, and “Death From Above” are some of the most moving songs on the whole record. From the lyrics to the heavy, melodic guitar riffs, all underscored by the flawless bass tone, everything hits right in the feels. The last track is no more than a long drawn out outro, and this is all the time I am going to spend on that.
After three or four plays through, I found that 3 certain parts just stuck out to me. First, the transition from the soft opening acoustic introduction to the powerful hit of the full strength band just gives me chills. Second, the opening of the second song is one of the catchiest parts in the whole album (I am a sucker for a catchy part). Third, and I apologize in advanced for this, but whenever the track “Black Honey” came back around I thought I was listening to Brand New just for a moment. Take that last one however you want, good or bad, I still loved the song as much as the rest of the album.
All in all, while To Be Everywhere Is To Be Nowhere presents a lot of great qualities, some parts don’t really captivate me. The overall quality of the record is fantastic: the lyrics are classic Thrice lyrics, and MOST of the songs just hit you so hard, it almost hurts. As a Thrice fan, it is definitely worth picking this album up. It has enough of the classic sound tempered by the band’s maturity to keep every rock fan interested. Once you do indeed pick this record up, I would HIGHLY recommend catching them on tour this summer. Albums are great and all, but nothing compares to live performance and every band lives to perform. It’s absolutely an experience for every true Thrice fan.
Listen to: Hurricane - Black Honey
