Volume I: Fire

Naturally, one imagines fire as a violent force and thus is the EP. For the most part older Thrice fans will feel most at home on the Fire EP which features some of their heaviest material to date. While the songs aren't as fast and thrashy as their previous albums, they are a vast step away from the general calm of their last album. This may be the album that leads the "sheep" back to the flock as a more coherent bridge to their newer sound than the leap between their last two albums. "Firebreather" stands to possibly be the heaviest Thrice song to date with massive crunching guitars from Dustin and Teppei and thundering drums on Riley's part. "The Messenger" and "The Arsonist" both will take fans back to the days of "Illusion of Safety" and "Artist in the Ambulance". The rest of the EP features tracks similar to "Music Box" and "Like Moths to the Flame" from "Vheissu" which will act as the aforementioned bridge between albums. All in all the Fire EP serves as a welcome back to older fans and the missing link between "Artist" and "Vheissu".

Volume II: Water

The Water EP on the other hand stays very close to the style of "Vheissu". The album is quite peaceful and somber from start to end. It's an interesting mix between bitter remorse and a long dirge. Although I've been a Thrice fan since "Identity Crisis" and love their harder material, the Water EP is one of my favorite albums created by the band. This album almost defined the whole month of December for me! Album opener "Digital Sea" has a massively overproduced and digitized feel to it which fits surprisingly well with Dustin's vocal style. One oddity is that there are hardly any guitars on the whole EP. The only two songs that have guitar work are "Open Water" and "Night Diving" which is a little unfortunate due to the fact that Dustin and Teppei normally have such great guitar work. That's not to say it's bad though, the addition of pianos and synths greatly change the direction of the album instead of making in too close to an "acoustic only" album. My only complaint with this album is that it gets a little closer to an extension of "Vheissu".