February 5, 2002 - The Illusion Of Safety

A week after my last release and a year and 8 months since their debut "Identity Crisis", Thrice released their second album "The Illusion Of Safety" on February 5, 2002. Thrice have evolved from the hardcore punk sound of their debut into a blend of heavy metal with screaming vocals, mixed with melodic parts with clean vocals. I like the sound of things getting even heavier, let's check out some new Thrice!

The album kicks off with "Kill Me Quickly" and we hear some nice aggressive vocals by Dustin Kensrue. His singing is solid as well but the screaming sounds great. There's some really cool, fast guitar by Teppei Teranishi and some groovy bass by Eddie Breckenridge as well. The first seven songs are all three minutes or less and although it was short, I thought this was a powerful opener with a nice slow breakdown to finish it off. Up next is "A Subtle Dagger" and it's got a super fast punk-y main riff with some nice heavy bass by Eddie and some speedy guitar and drums by Riley Breckenridge. This song is under two minutes, but they pack lots of heavy and cool stuff into it, including another great ending to finish things off. Track 3 is "See You In The Shallows" and Kensrue sings this whole song with no screaming. He still sounds good though and Teranishi plays lots of fast and cool guitar in this more accessible but still solid tune. They turn up the volume and speed for yet another nice ending as well. The next track is "Betrayal Is A Symptom" and Eddie plays a really cool bass riff to start us off then they switch gears to a fast and really cool main riff with tons of cool guitar by both Kensrue and Teranishi. Kensrue mixes screaming and singing really nicely and everything sounds really tight and sweet. They continue their streak of really good endings with a really heavy closing riff with Kensrue sounding great screaming overtop. Track 5 is the album's only single "Deadbolt" and they kick right into a furiously fast main riff with Teranishi playing some really cool stuff and Kensrue comes in to sing a solid verse as well. Words don't do proper justice to some really catchy and very articulate guitar playing and after a few short rounds of this the song shifts dramatically as Teranishi plays a repetitive but fast guitar riff and Kensrue sings a slow, lighter verse overtop. Things sound pretty epic and I welcome the change of pace as things seem to fade to a finish, but it's time for another cool ending! This song ends with a piano solo that is unlike anything Thrice have done so far, and it's a really cool piano solo! Probablyvmy favourite of all these really good endings! Up next is "In Years To Come" and Kensrue plays a great rhythm guitar riff, Teranishi comes in with some cool lead guitar as well and Kensrue sings a pop-y but solid verse as things bounce along nicely right into a heavy and pretty sweet chorus. It's another pretty short song so after another round they're pretty much done, but once again they end things on a heavy note as the streak continues! Track 7 is "The Red Death" and it's another typically cool main riff with lots of cool guitar and Kensrue just sings once again for a pop-y but still solid verse. Teranishi even delivers a guitar solo on this one and it's short, but pretty damn good! Another strong and heavy finish concludes a fast first half that had absolutely no weak points at all! The next track is "A Living Dance Upon Dead Minds" and it's got a slower pace than most of the album along with some fairly pop-y vocals and no screaming. This makes it one of the lesser ones for me, but if this is the low end things still sound pretty solid! This ending is easily the slowest and least exciting so far though with a quiet and simple finish. Track 9 is "Where Idols Once Stood" and we return to a fast-paced environment with some really fast and cool guitars and some great screaming vocals by Kensrue. My head is banging happily along for most of the song, but even the couple slower parts are still well done and still have plenty of cool guitars. Another cool tune for sure! Up next is "Trust" and it has a really slow pace, but some interesting guitars lead the way and Kensrue sings a slow verse to match this mood that is unusual for Thrice, but an interesting change of pace. Then they slam into a super hardcore chorus with Kensrue screaming really nicely and isn't that a change! They suddenly drop back to the slow verse as well and the changes are well done and hit very hard/soft. A unique song for sure! Track 11 is "To Awake And Avenge The Dead" and it's another typically fast and pretty sweet main riff, words don't do proper justice at this point to all these different and cool riffs. Teranishi plays a super catchy part in the verse that I absolutely love and this whole song is really good! It ends with some more super epic and awesome guitar! The next track is "So Strange I Remember You" and it starts with a very slow and epic guitar riff by itself. After this pretty cool intro they slam into a more standard Thrice main riff as I am once again happily headbanging along to some great guitars, some cool fast drums, and some solid singing by Kensrue. After a couple nice rounds they move into a really cool distorted breakdown that sounds awesome and end the song on another fantastic note. The final song on the album is "The Beltsville Crucible" and it's got another typically cool main riff and a pretty epic verse by Kensrue. It rolls into a similar chorus and things are sounding pretty good as usual. After a couple rounds they slow things right down with a really simple guitar riff and after way too long they finally slam into a slow but at least heavy riff to jam out the end of the song in an atypically dull finish.

That is the end of "The Illusion Of Safety" and I thought it was a pretty sweet album! I love this shift away from punk and into metal and there is just so much great guitar work on this album. "Deadbolt" was my favourite but there are a bunch of really good songs on this album. I think it's way better than their debut "Identity Crisis" and I can't wait to see where Thrice will go from here!