Thrice's 'Black Honey' Swarms With Heavy Drama

Enlarge this image toggle caption Jonathan Weiner/Courtesy of the artist Jonathan Weiner/Courtesy of the artist

After long forays into pop-punk and arty post-hardcore, Thrice returns after a hiatus with a sonically grandiose third act. The band's ninth album, To Be Everywhere Is To Be Nowhere, at times breaks with Thrice's angular moves and aims straight for the gut with more anthemic songs.

Frontman Dustin Kensrue tells NPR that "Black Honey" was one of the first songs Thrice's members wrote when they got back together. It's a gloomy and propulsive piece of heavy drama that recalls late-period Cave In, with Kensrue channeling the soulful rasp of Soundgarden's Chris Cornell more than ever. "Lyrically," he writes, "the song spawned from an image that popped into my head: someone continually swatting at a swarm of bees to get their honey, but somehow not understanding why they would sting back in return."

To Be Everywhere Is To Be Nowhere comes out May 27 on Vagrant.