Album Review: Thornhill – Heroine

Metalcore outfit Thornhill shook to metal world in 2019 with their debut album ‘The Dark Pool.’ The band showed immediate promise with their ingenious combination of crushing breakdowns, soaring choruses and atmospheric elements. With the band gearing up to release their sophomore album ‘Heroine,’ I found myself intrigued on how the band would follow up such a great debut. First things first, “Heroine” is likely going to be divisive among fans of the band. They have all but abandoned their metalcore sound aiming for a more alt rock/metal sound. Influences ranging from grungy nineties, Muse and Deftones. While at first I was hesitant about the sound change because of how much I loved “The Dark Pool”, after listening to the album in its entirety I was completely sold on the change.

Genre: Alt Rock/Metal

Label: UNFD

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FLOW / LONGEVITY / ORIGINALITY

The album kicks off with opener “The Hellfire Club” plunges right into the bands new direction and lets listeners know right away on what to expect. With its cinematic feel and distorted guitars, I was hooked immediately from the get go. The band pulls off the change in sound masterfully and each song has it’s own wide range of influences. The song “Arkangel” has wide ninties and melodic vibes throughout and remains one of my favorites on the album. While “Velvet Wings” retains the bands previous metalcore elements, it still reflects the bands shift sound-wise. The album transitions seamlessly between one another and even throwing a beautiful minute and a half interlude with song “Sometime Terrible Came with the Rain.” While some may be yearning for the bands past metalcore driven sound, I found this new direction a breath of fresh air and an enthralling experience from start to finish.

Thornhill – Hollywood [Official Music Video]

Hollywood is taken from Thornhill’s new album Heroine, out June 3. Pre-orders launch on March 10 – https://unfd.lnk.to/HeroinePre-save Heroine – https://unfd…

VOCALS / INSTRUMENTATION

Those who are familiar with Thornhill  are likely well versed with the prowess and talent that is shown by frontman Jacob Charlton. He showcases a wide variety of ranges, from fantastic high falsetto’s and crooning singing that to me are reminiscent of Muse frontman Matt Bellamy. The swagger of Charlton oozes through each song and I found myself almost hypnotized by his vocals. Charlton hasn’t completely abandoned his aggressive side with his aggressive screams are still sprinkled throughout, even if its not nearly as prevalent as prior releases. Charlton has shown an incredible amount of growth vocally and will be a big part of the bands explosion in popularity.

Instrumentally the band is able to keep up with the incredible momentum set by frontman Charlton. Guitarists Ethan McCann and Matt Van Duppen have incredible range and are able to display the wide variety of styles found on the album. Whether its the crunchy, djenty style riffs, or the moody, atmospheric leads, they can do it all. Bassist Nick Sjorgen throws down some seriously  groovy and low distorted bass lines. Drummer Ben Maida should not be forgotten either as his drumming is captivating and memorizing throughout the entire album. One of my favorite moments are the outro from Maida on the song “Arkangel” and the more aggressive style on “Casanova.”

FINAL THOUGHTS

Overall ‘Heroine’ ends up being a prime example of a band executing a huge shift in sound almost flawlessly. Thornhill needs to be added amongst the likes of Bring Me The Horizon, Architects and other bands who made huge changes in sound to wide commercial success. There will always be the naysayers who lament the band “selling out” and who make it their life’s work to let everyone know that the band’s older material is the best and the newer stuff is irrelevant. This album ends up being a rare 10/10 for me and be replayed countless times throughout the year. The band has created something truly special with ‘Heroine’ and shows the sky is truly the limit for them. Thornhill’s sophomore album ‘Heroine’ comes out June 3rd via UNFD wherever you stream music!