Three describes its music as "dark yet uplifting, spiritual without any connection to religion." Their position on the Progressive Nation Tour alongside of Porcupine Tree and Opeth brings to mind the kind of melodic progressive metal for which Dream Theater (sponsors of the tour) are known.
Three, fronted by Joey Eppard (brother of Coheed and Cambria's former drummer Josh Eppard) offers the same kind of earnest, tightly-woven semi-metal that has found Coheed a following. Also reminiscent of Coheed and Cambria is the way that Three's soul is found in the way they blend pop-packaged vocals, dubiously anxious lyrics and progressive rock riffs.
With their new album "The End is Begun," Three offers a catchy fifth record that brims with familiar atmosphere, but breaks no new ground. Having recently moved to Metal Blade Record (a significant step up for the band), Three seems far less ready to challenge themselves than they do to establish a marketable sound.
Thus "The End is Begun" is by far the most musically consistent of Three's five albums. Gone is the upbeat funk-metal of "Half Life", gone are the bass-driven pop stylings of "Paint By Numbers" and gone are the darkly inviting ballads that comprised "Summercamp Nightmare".
Three continues to excel at moody, haunting tunes backed by aggressive guitar work. They fall short in continuing in the kinds of genre-blending experimentation that drew most of their modest fan base. "The End is Begun" is catchy if not quite satisfying in the way that "Summercamp Nightmare" seemed to promise. In "The End" there is more accessible music that appeals right away and less sheer songwriting to get lost in.
Also new is the way that the album's early passages devote serious time to lead guitar riffs sure to delight fans of Three's metal genre, but creating a busy, cluttered sound that was refreshingly missing from earlier albums.
Throughout the years, Three has kept things mostly surprise-free in the lyrics department. One look at the cover art of their new release "The End is Begun" and one can see that the status quo is well maintained. Song names like "Bleeding Me Home", "My Divided Calling" and "The World is Born of Flame" can hardly be unexpected.
One is bound to find the lyrics to these songs (like Joey Eppard's vocals) either relentlessly sincere or appealingly fitting.
"The Word is Born of Flame", the album's first track, begins in a passive aggressive tone with Joey Eppard's signature fingerpicking in which one can hear a mixture of bass guitar string-slappery and classical chord-scaling.
After some darkly smooth vocals whisper for awhile over the pristine guitar work (mostly about the coming darkness etc.) the real fun begins. The first taste given of the album's real punch is the suitably weighty yet playful riffs that end "The Word is Born of Flame" and lead right into the next song.
By the time that the single, "All That Remains", is reached in its traditional fourth-song spot, the listener is ready for the fireworks and in this song they are indeed delivered.
"All That Remains" is well worth a listen, bound to melt the heart of even the most uninterested listener. Like any good single it wraps a well-rounded taste of the best aspects of the record in an ultra-catchy tune complete with soaring chorus.
"The End is Begun" serves well its apparent purpose as an entry portal to the band for those not familiar with their sound. The album is an accurate enough portrait of the things that Three does well without hinting at their true capability.
By restricting themselves from the eerie expanses of "Summercamp Nightmare" (arguably the band's greatest work), Three has neither lost nor gained as much as may have seemed at stake with this album.
In the meantime there are many soulfully overproduced pleasures to be had as the "End" begins.
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