Sputnikmusic - Thera – If This is the End

Thera – If This is the End

By Trey Spencer Tuesday April 6, 2010

Thera is a 5-piece band out of Alaska. Their core sound could most generically be described as alternative or emo, but there’s more to it than that. Thanks in large part to the vocals of Stephanie Plate, the band’s music takes on an epic feel despite the short duration of the songs. Her voice is very unique and capably conveys the raw emotion of her lyrics. Musically the band creates pieces that can move from uplifting highs to crushing lows within the span of a single song. I know it’s still early, but this may very well be one of my top 3 albums of 2010.

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— The Aftermath

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— The Downpour

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— Don’t Hesitate

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— [Thera Myspace] — [Physical Album] — [Digital Album] —

39 Comments

Willie
04.06.10

This is easily my favorite album of the year so far. Gushing review should be up by this evening.

bloc
04.06.10

She hot?

Willie
04.06.10

ha ha, dude they're going to see this - just check the music.

KritikalMotion
04.06.10

Interest is peaked

Electric City
04.06.10

look i know you want to get people to listen but at least try to put bands they sound like they sound nothing like brand new

Electric City
04.06.10

to be honest they sound like my band in high school

porch
04.06.10

Sound like a mixture of Dream Theater and Bob Marley

Willie
04.06.10

I think they sound like Brand New, I'm thinking of their third album mostly. I'm just going to drop the RIYL to avoid the whole thread being devoted to arguments over who they do and don't sound like.

Electric City
04.06.10

probs for the best trey, though I still don't see where you're gettin that. s'all good though no worried

Transient
04.06.10

hahaha they sound like evanescence

HaloDude442
04.06.10

I like this. Holy shit the aftermath is amazing.

Willie
04.06.10

RIYL: EC's high school band

Ha ha, no worries. I knew better than to add a genre or RIYL too. It only ever leads to arguing about those two aspects instead of actually paying attention to the music.

Waior
04.06.10

I listened to 'The Aftermath', I enjoyed it well enough. Probably enough to listen to the entire album and make a conscious decision on HOW much I enjoy it. Thanks, Trey.

Willie
04.06.10

Well then,Waior, I expect for you to follow up on that and post eventually post a rating ;)

Thanks. Mx said he wanted this blog to be as dynamic as possible, so I figure I can pull something like this off just about every other day if the blog is having a slow period.

Observer
04.06.10

Top 3 of 2010, eh? You take in a lot of music, so I'm definitely interested in that. I know it's terrible, but I've never been a huge fan of female vocals for some reason, but I'll definitely listen and read your review.

Willie
04.06.10

Her vocals are definitely unique and I appreciate you at least trying ;)

EC: I re-listened to "The Devil and God..." album and the Brand New comparison that I was making is apparently more in the feelings that both albums seem to create. To me, they're very similar in mood - so, I guess that would be more of a personal thing than a tangible thing other people could relate to.

sniper
04.06.10

Just listened to The Aftermath and I'm already liking this mix better. Totally agree about this being more epic than it feels like it should be. Thanks for posting, I'll be picking this up.

Willie
04.06.10

Yeah, that epic feel is cool. Two other bands that seem to be able to pull off an epic sound despite normal song lengths are In Every Breath and Fair to Midland. I'd reccomend checking them out if you haven't.

sniper
04.06.10

Okay, never heard of them, more female vocals?

Willie
04.06.10

No. They both have male vocalists, but they're both awesome. Check out their myspace pages (I'll do a listening party for In Every Breath eventually).

PanasonicYouth
04.06.10

hmmmm
the aftermath was pretty good
will check this out sometime soon

jesusjuice1179
04.07.10

i'm surprised i didn't enjoy any of the songs, these guys seem right up my alley

Willie
04.07.10

What didn't you like about it? @chambered: You should definitely go to In Every Breath's myspace and check them out then.

Society Sellout
04.07.10

Her vocals are certainly good but the music is fairly generic. Boring compositions and expected dynamics really bring down the strength of her voice.

theacademy
04.07.10

dig dig dig dig dig dig wow nice job and thanks

SpacePanda
04.07.10

loving this

SpacePanda
04.07.10

and purchased, great find!

Willie
04.07.10

I went to Myspace to check them out and it occurred to me that Myspace is streaming the wrong song or John Hanson is being sarcastic… at this moment I'm debating which one is more probable.

Electric City
04.07.10

meant once, we were heroes not 2IC NIGGA duh

ohnoestehmusik
04.07.10

Evanescence meets early He Is Legend screams meets overly generic piano and backing music. Needs more instrumental wankery, it's pretty boring as is, though very catchy. Her voice is strong, but not strong enough to carry the band. The louder they are the better they are, their composition lacks greatly whenever the music slows down. Some parts I really dig, but others come off bland as hell. I do really like the background screams though, the production on them is excellent. 3.3/5 on these songs, I'd say. Maybe I'll pick it up.

crownx
04.07.10

Not all that bad so far. "The Aftermath" is pretty sweet. Will continue to follow up on this band.

Homunculusninja
04.08.10

I like it well enough.

Willie
04.08.10

Ha, ha. I love all the different opinions on this. Most of them seem to be pretty far one way or the other.

PirateSquid
04.09.10

I've yet to form a full opinion on this.
It's interesting, to say the least.

But lolwut emo and alternative?
Alternative isn't a genre
This isn't anything close to emo, maybe slightly influenced by some pop-punk band influenced by another pop-punk band influenced by Cap'n Jazz, but that's all I can imagine.

Willie
04.09.10

I'm definitely not getting into genre arguements. Those are what the band have listed and that's what I went with.

PirateSquid
04.09.10

So bands determine their own genre?

Willie
04.09.10

Again, genre discussions go on for pages and have no resolution. I can hear what they're getting at, and it's close enough for a starting point. I'm not going to start listing them under a ton of sub-genres. The broad ones that I listed work well enough. Bands should definitely be able to make it known which genres they feel they would fall into. If not them, then who?

JetpackMusic
05.19.10

I'd like to hear a better recording than the ones that are on here, hopefully someone will pick them up and invest some studio time for them. Great potential though.

Thera – If This is the End

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