Thrice
Identity Crisis

THE REVIEW

After the departure of groups like At The Drive-In and Fugazi (not yet officially disbanded), the Post-Hardcore/Emocore scene has sunk disastrously. In this wreckage, the Californians Thrice are among the very few bands to be saved, and they do so in great style.

7 albums, each different from the last, unique and highly successful. On September 20th, their eighth album will be released, and no one has any idea what to expect, one only expects it to be an excellent record just like the previous ones. But let's jump back in time to 2001, the year of their debut LP titled "Identity Crisis". It begins with the title track "Identity Crisis," the audio quality isn't excellent but it doesn't matter, because the first track is already great thanks to an excellent introductory riff that immediately sticks in your head. The guitar strums end leaving room for the first, relaxed 30 seconds of "Phoenix Ignition," which then takes off aggressively attacking the eardrums impeccably even with a decent melody. "In Your Hands," which opens with a sweet arpeggio maintaining its sweet melody even in the more lively parts, closes an already deadly opening trio. Throughout the album, we're accompanied by excellent drumming, very fast with Hardcore New School flavors. In some tracks, the riffs recall bands like At The Drive-In, as in "Ultra Blue," while in others, they are fast and melodic in Melodic Hardcore style, like in "As The Ruin Falls." The band still manages to be original, adding their own touch in pieces like these. The remarkable opening trio is equaled in the closing trio where we find "Unquestioned Answers," where melody and speed coexist in symbiosis, "Under Par," which again alternates successful slowed-down parts with bursts of energy, and "T & C," featuring an excellent guitar solo.

In this album, we don't find the experimentation of the later ones, and the production isn't memorable, but at the time, Thrice was already all there.