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When you ask people if they've heard the latest single by Thrice, most of them will ask you the same question: "Who?"

If you have never heard of the band before, don't feel bad, not a lot of people have. Thrice has never had a hit single, it's only had one release on a major label before, and the band has been struggling to find their niche. With their latest release, Vheissu, however, it hopes to put an end to all of those problems.

Vheissu was the project of the band's singer, Dustin Kensrue, who based the album on the novel V by Thomas Pynchon, which tells of a navy sailor named Benny Profane and an artist named Stencil as the pair look for a mysterious woman named simply "V." The work intrigued Kensrue, and was used as a basis for the release after making the rest of the band read it from cover to cover. While making the release though, the question that still plagued the band was whether or not anyone would be willing to hear the story given the problems they had had both finding an audience as well as who they are as a group.

"Image of the Invisible," the band's first single from Vheissu, has at least put to rest the band's struggles with having a hit single. The release, which has gotten a lot of radio airplay already, is definitely similar to something you would hear from a group like Rise Against or Unwritten Law, but there is something crisper that makes the release stand out and prevents it from being shoved aside and labeled as just more of the same from a market saturated with "screamo."

Thrice is also likely to get traction from songs like "The Earth Will Shake," a much harder sampling from the band, allowing more for things like guitar solos than overbearing vocals, as well as the song, "Red Sky," which is a moving and somber ballad that does not alter anything from the band's aggressive sound. Trying to compare or describe the song anymore would do the song an injustice, and as hard as it may be to visualize, the result is something truly beautiful and is the feather in Vheissu's cap.

After listening to the release several times, you will find yourself wanting to hear more, which seems to put an end to the band's second problem: fears of being able to find peace as a group with their sound.

Already, the band has been on this year's Warped Tour and has gotten glowing reviews from magazines like Kerrang! and the College Music Journal, and while there is not much more to say that has not been said or will not be said when the album hits shelves, it still bears repeating that Vheissu is a diamond in the rough of this season's releases. Maybe even when all the dust is settled, Vheissu will be looked at as one of the best releases of the year, and if it is, you certainly will not hear any complaints from this reviewer.

Artist: Thrice
Album: Vhessiu
Label: Island
Release Date: October 18, 2005

Key Tracks: "Image of the Invisible," "The Earth Will Shake," "Stand and Feel Your Worth," "Red Sky"

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