Digital Sea: Revisiting Thrice’s landmark EP series, “The Alchemy Index”

Starting out as a somewhat under the radar post-hardcore band in California, Thrice have slowly grown to become one of the most exciting rock bands of recent memory. It was really on 2002’s sophomore record The Illusion Of Safety that the band started to make a name for themselves in the melodic hardcore scene – but stunningly, nobody was truly prepared for what happened after 2005’s masterwork, Vheissu.

The transition between Thrice’s peak post-hardcore period and the brilliance of Vheissu was shocking even to a 16-year old me, and it’s safe to say that those experimental flourishes combined with a brave reinvention of sound led to what Thrice would do in 2007 on The Alchemy Index: Fire and Water. Released 10 years ago today, the 2 EP’s, as well as the Earth and Air EP’s released in 2008, showed multiple sides of what Thrice could do. The Water EP showed the more electronic side of the band, and the Fire side showed Thrice’s heavier, denser material (think Artist In The Ambulance mixed with post-metal, a la Isis).

Overall, out of Thrice’s entire discography, The Alchemy Index is probably the most rewarding section of their peak. Even being 10 years old, the first two sides are true milestones in experimental rock – and the Air/Earth sides are indicative of the more recent direction the band would take on their subsequent full-lengths. It’s hard to single out one of the EP’s as being their best – it’s simply 1/4 of a conceptual body of work – but the Water EP was truly captivating material. Take the opener “Digital Sea”, for instance. It truly embodies the element of water, taking the more electronic textures of Vheissu and expanding on them in a nearly perfect fashion.

Most bands simply can’t pull off brilliance like this without coming across as overblown. Thrice is not one of those bands, though.