Threads of Life

Threads of Life is the fifth album, powerfully assembling raw riffs, fluid lead guitar and Brian Fair's roar. Released on Atlantic in April 2007 as their major-label debut, with Roadrunner handling territories outside the US. Nick Raskulinecz, known for Foo Fighters, produced; recording took place at Dave Grohl's Studio 606, with Zeuss mixing as usual. It's also the only major-label album of their career. The songs are fierce, but classic-metal melody lives in the choruses and guitar solos. The opener “Redemption” was Grammy-nominated and reached No. 37 on US Mainstream Rock. “Another Hero Lost,” a ballad dedicated to Fair's cousin who died stationed in Iraq, gives the record another kind of depth. It debuted at No. 46 on the Billboard 200. Melody sits further forward than before, yet they don't drop ferocious tracks like “Failure of the Devout,” holding tension through the quiet instrumental “The Great Collapse” to the closing “Forevermore” — a record with the conviction to widen genre boundaries.