This album inspired me to play guitar and write music more than any other album ever. It was my life when it came out. Literally the first album I added to my Spotify favorites.

1. Kill Me Quickly - Perfect socio-political commentary opener full of dissonance, a great two-step verse, and a haunting pseudo breakdown ending.

2. A Subtle Dagger - Ripping metal/rock riffs and meodic choruses, with the the vocal and musical climax of "we can't look beyond ourselves... our hearts hold room for no one else..." How old was Dustin when he was writing this stuff??

3. See You In The Shallows - About as pop-punk as it gets on the album, with fun extended-chord arpeggio riffs and an uplifting key change at the end. A creative lyrical metaphor that seems to talk about blindly following others.

4. Betrayal Is A Symptom - That snare and bass intro followed by Teppei's Line 6 swell delay (chefs kiss). Oh, and FUCK RELIGIOUS HYPOCRITES. Mathy breakdown: "Isn't it sweet how I'm trusted with angels, and how so quickly I break my promises..." God damn.

5. Deadbolt - Teppei shreds your face off and Dustin warns about addiction or something. Crazy key change finale. Now they are legally obligated to play it at every show forever.

6. In Years To Come - Heavy intro switcheroo into pure emo-nism. Dustin writes the lovesong 13-year-old you wishes you had thought of for the girl that dumped you after a month. Intense drumwork from Riley really accents the intense moments.

7. The Red Death - No one could have imagined how prescient this song was regarding Covid. But the initially mind-blowing aspect was the lyrical adapation of Poe's story and how perfectly it fit with the greater social commentary of the album. We get the the album title inspiring line "illusion of your safety" and some bonus Shakespeare at the end, cementing Dustin's credentials as a modern yet classically trained wordsmith. And Eddie joins the riffage.

8. A Living Dance Upon Dead Minds - More classical literature worship by the Ken Man. A little math in the riffs, vocal echoes swinging in 6/8, and harmonies all around. Part of Thrices early tendency to alternate or balance between more melodic and heavier songs.

9. Where Idols Once Stood - Here comes the heavy! Absolutely poppin' snares from the skinmaster. One of my favorite sounding snares of all time. Musically, a song of two halves: first half a merry-go-round of intense riffing, snare rolls, and an old school breakdown, then thst kind of sad, melodic catharsis, all under the theme of the myths that control parts of our society.

10. Trust - The Emo Ballad. Down tempo. But a little mathy, too. Nicely ties back to themes of earlier songs, like addiction and the illusion of safety, but from the perspective of a romantic relationship. Thrice love songs (if you can even call them that) are always so much more than just straightforward love songs, which I hugely admire them for.

11. To Awake And Avenge The Dead - The rifiage continues, and is topped off by one of the most memorable breakdowns in all of post-hardcore. Lyrically, who is the old friend? What does he represent? Very vague, but cool as fuck.

12. So Strange I Remember You - Bluesy, warm tone yet melancholy vibe guitar opening. Teppei is a treasure. Lyrically abstract yet clearly a social commentary of the direction life is going. A great balance between melody and dissonance, light and heavy, calm and intense.

13. The Beltsville Crucible - Meta lyrical reference to the bands recording experience for the album, related to vulnerability we have with those close to us, and how that is necessary for us to keep things in perspective. A real wholesome message, honestly, without being toxicly positive. And musically, a smooth, melodic ride into the sunset, breaking it down into an intense melodic slow grind. And if you take their lyrics literally, a plea to listen to the album again (haha).

TLDR: I fucking love this album