I just did a really nice interview with Eddie in Amsterdam the 2nd of May. A great guy, very friendly. He told us about their latest record Vheissu. Now that I've had the time to listen to it properly, I will write a review about it.

I only had their record called The Artist In The Ambulance. Pretty hardcore and very rough. Well, for the past six years, Thrice have been blazing new trails for heavy music. They blended screams with heart-aching melodies, crunchy riffs and dissonance. Now Vheissu here, is something different. Like Eddie said, they wanted to do whatever was on their minds. So it's not like something you could expect, but it's still totally Thrice. Like the title means in German; Wie heisst du? Well, their name is Thrice, and this is who they are!

Vheissu is a kind of mystical record. On the front cover there are sentences like: Who are you?, What are you called?, What is your name?, and We all are named and all are known. Some of those can be found in the lyrics. You can spend an hour only looking at the cover from all possible angles and trying to figure out what's behind all those words.

They started experimenting with keyboards and samples which gives it atmospheric textures and arrangements. The hours they were on the road while touring, were used for experimenting with Reason (music program). So that's one of the reasons why all the extra keyboard, samples and others came in. A great addition if you'd ask me!

This record is a bit mellow for Thrice but even more intense. Very diverse but also totally outbalanced. The opening song ‘Image of the Invisible’ powers you up immediately when ‘Atlanctic’ calms you down. ‘The Earth Will Shake’ is even based on a blues line when you listen to it properly. On Vheissu Dustin’s (great) voice can be heard like never before. The whole band comes out perfect on this record. And that when it’s all quite risky as they’re doing something that’s totally new for them and the listeners.

Sometimes peoples get scared or freaked out when a band tries out something different. For me personally, this made Thrice only better in my eyes. After that interview, seeing them play twice and listening to this album, they've become one of my favourites! And I'm sure they will remain one of my favourites for quite some time…

Love,

Maurits