Album Review: Three To One – Beyond The Divide

By Will Brawley, Liars Pacifist Podcast

This one is for the Florida and Illinois based hard rock band Three To One and their debut album Beyond The Divide.  Have a read through and check out the band and their new album!

Three To One // Beyond The Divide (REVIEW)

Comprised of members from both the states of Florida and Illinois. Three To One is a five piece hard hitting, hard rock force. By and large. Three To One is still a relatively new band. However. During their time as a band. Three To One has already achieved some impressive and respectable things. Their song "Clutch" has had viral success two consecutive times and garnered over 10,000 streams alone. The band has had established radio success as well with strong presence in the Midwest especially. I also feel that I should make it known that Three To One is entirely an independent band. Everything they do, from self-producing their own music, doing their own promoting, everything is done by the band. Those things alone, for me, are very important facts about the band and speak volumes about their ethic and drive as a band. And with a continually expanding and growing fanbase, which exceeds 10,000 strong currently. What Three To One is doing, clearly is paying off. Now let's get to their debut album!

The Journey Into Beyond The Divide

May 5th of this year marked the release of the long awaited, and sure to be very eclectic and ambitious debut album from Three To One. Beyond The Divide was finally released to the world and to their loyal fans, eagerly waiting to listen to the first ever full body of work from the band. When concerning myself and Three To One. My history with the band only goes back several weeks. Could be wrong here but I believe it was an ad featuring their song "iLLusions" on Instagram that would mark my introduction to the band. I am certain at least as to where I discovered the band. That being Instagram without a doubt. And like with most any band that grabs my attention with whatever song at the time met my ears. I immediately set out to find the bands socials and track down their music to hear more. I needed to devour all that I could in regard to this great new band, which to me blends the best of 90's grunge, hard rock, and additionally some nods to classic rock, and flares of prog.

Track by Track

Starting off Beyond The Divide is the acoustic and brief "aPetite." I do wish that this track was longer. Though if the bands reason for having this be an intro was to give the listener a glimpse of the turbulent storm of emotion lamentations of loss, pain, love, sacrifice, betrayal, struggles with addictions, and of the human condition.

What comes after "aPetite" is the slower burning rocker "Deville." This track is a richly layered powder keg. There's a feeling of a lingering, creeping dread that poisons the atmosphere of this track. Do not be fooled by the calmer strumming of acoustics in this track initially, reverberating over the crescendo of drumming and crawling bass, to vocals which float just over everything else with a somber, and maybe a bit of a remorseful tone. A truly remarkable thing about this track would be the way that it continues to build up. Hence the mention of a powder keg; contents may combust. And with "Deville.' Combustion certainly is reached. By the time the back half of the track starts in. We have an insane lead section in what is the tracks bridge point. This section of the song is where things are in full swing. That inner battle the track seems to talk about, in the mind, and how things take a strong hold on us, leading us down a path that has a wake of destruction, with the fallout unintentionally reaching those who deserve none of what your actions have caused. You wonder why go on? Why should I try? You feel worthless and alone. But maybe somehow, some way.

Things can one day take a turn. The next track is the deeply emotional "Haunted." A track which left me unable to stand from the chair I'd found myself in moments after the track had ended, my hand covering my face. "Haunted" is the kind of track that if you've lost someone in your life that you wish you had more time with, maybe that you could have made things right with, forgiven, been there for more. There's a very high chance that it'll deeply resonate with you. Loss of mostly any kind is never an easy thing to come to terms with. The stages of grief have no real length of time. I tend to think that we don't really every truly move on, or let go of someone important to us, or that we regret not being kinder to. "Haunted" very vividly conveys this. The track is painfully sad. And you feel every word. The use of piano throughout this song is like the final crack in a dam before it comes down, and the flood is let free. I say this because it was very hard to keep myself composed while listening. I truly appreciate songs like "Haunted." They're written in such a vulnerable and human way. A magnificent example of the power of music brought to life at the hands, and from the minds of very capable musicians.

From "Haunted" we then come to "From The Ashes." One thing that I know about this track is that it was a popular one on a Chicago radio station for the band. And listening to the track, it's pretty easy to find out why. "From The Ashes" is an all too relatable track which walks the fine line between a ballad, and a straight forward hard rock anthem which to me seems to reflect on something that once was, something that was never going to amount to anything other than pain and hatred or resentment because one side of things relished in the sight of having something to hold over the other smugly. So the process of unrooting this certain thing from your life begins. It drains you. And there are times you might consider going back to what you turned away from, knowing it'll only result in the cycle starting up again. Musically this track is heavy, moody, melodic, rounded out well by tight songwriting and execution. "From The Ashes" though still a bit on the softer side of that hard rock edge. This track still has a bit of a visceral touch to it that you can vent along to and help provide a bit of clarity for a bad situation you may also find yourself in. Indeed. "From The Ashes" unsurprisingly is very well suited for the radio. Driving. Relatable. An all around great track.

Next up is "Rain." So. Something that I noticed about the band by this point was that they love to write those mid tempo, melancholic hard rock tracks that get you wrapped up in what you're feeling. I caught myself thinking about a lot of the things I have experienced in my life while listening to "Rain." Of the many times I felt like an endless rain was falling and I thought I couldn't possibly find a break in the dark clouds overhead. But don't take the fact that the band loves writing this kind of track as a bad thing. Because I am not at all saying there is anything wrong about that. The band very much excels at writing this tracks with this kind of atmosphere, tone, or feel to them. And for the tracks on this record that go this route. They still each have plenty of distinction between them musically. And make no mistake. "Rain" has plenty of punch. Heavy isn't just about a down tuned guitar and aggressive instrumentation. Heavy also translates to the vocal delivery and how heavily the words connect with the listener. A very solid track.

With the next track "BlackBall." Three To One tackles the habit that many have of judging without first understanding. The song talks about how we point the finger, and of how we tend to measure the value of others by what they've done in their life. We don't often think about what they may have going in in their head. About how what we're doing, laughing or mocking, may be doing them in and pushing them closer to the edge. Another side of this is how those that a being so awful are acting how they are because they're unhappy in their own life, and so they feel justified in doing what they're doing. "BlackBall" is a heavy guitar driven track. The drums swell around you and the bass is a steady pulsation hitting your chest. Vocally, there's anger dripping over the words this time. The bands vocalist, Steve, really delivers a stellar performance on this track. Three To One reaches a stride with this track. I can only imagine how this song goes over in a live setting. As I am certain that there's not a single idle body in that crowd during it. Really love this one!

"Clutch" continues the more aggressive delivery from the band. I love this one! Lyrically, "Clutch" to me seems to address hypocritical, fake behavior of leaders, possibly even in religious settings. They fool those none the wiser. While those that can't be fooled for one reason or another are left to endure it all because nothing seems to be done about it. With some of the heaviest points of the record. "Clutch" has a certain grit and rawness to it that is an undeniable high point of the record. When Three To One wants to really drive a point home, or make a statement. They know how to crank things up past ten and make a point. We all deal with liars and snakes in our life. Do we face them, and discard them? Or do we turn and look the other way, enabling them to keep up their act? It isn't the easiest choice to make. Even though however it seems obvious what one should do. "Clutch" makes a very solid shot for being the album favorite for me! Stellar riffs. Great lyrics. A fully fueled rocker!

Next we come to the songs "iLLusions" and "Sustain." These two songs while different musically. They both compliment one another and a perfectly placed in the track order of the record. "iLLusions" was my introduction to Three To One. And while songs like "Haunted" and "Clutch" could both easily be the favorite of the record. "iLLusions" just has the little bit of extra something special that just barely nudges it about the other nine tracks on the record. I absolutely love the energy that "iLLisions" has. Truly great and memorable verses, a chorus that is like it has been somehow imprinted upon my brain, refusing to fade out. If the band hasn't already submitted this to play on radio all around the country. They certainly should!

Sustain however serves as the final, softer track of the album. It is a tender track. Very thoughtful and tastefully done. I think back in the early 2000's, "Sustain" would have been a song that blew up for the band. Perhaps even selected for movie soundtracks. And it is no secrete ladies and gentlemen that Three To One know how to right a damn good song. As this record is stacked top to bottom with amazing tracks. And with that.

We now come to the closing track of the record, "EdgEnd." This track gave me a strong Fuel vibe. Sunburn era. What's really great about "EdgEnd" is the fact that it isn't just the final track of the album. It is also one of the best tracks from the entire record. And that is absolutely how you close out an album. You want the last song to be strong, loud, written to leave the listener wanting more which in turn leads them to push play again and listen to the record all over again. When the last song of a record just sort of fizzles out and just exists. It sort of makes the record feel empty. Three To One knows this. And that is why with "EdgEnd" the band wrote a song that has a great hook, heaps of energy, and plenty to sing along to. What a damn fine track to close things out with!

Final Thoughts

To sum up Beyond The Divide, the debut album from Three To One; remarkably human, packed full of feeling and emotion, careful crafted and pieced together with purpose and heart by five tremendous musicians. Beyond The Divide is one of those rare debuts that leave a lasting impression, yet almost leaves you filled with anxiety as to how exactly Three To One could possible top such an amazing record. The good thing? We won't need to worry. A band like Three To One know what they're doing. Beyond The Divide is full of proof of that fact.

My one complaint? aPetite needed to be a full song! I hear so much potential in that brief, powerful little intro track. Tsk tsk. But that is just really a very minor, and humorous complaint from me and nothing more. Beyond The Divide needs to be part of your collection of music and listened to every day. This is hard rock made the right way.

Final Score: Liars Pacifist Podcast gives Beyond The Divide by Three To One 4.7/5 stars!

Track highlights: iLLusions, Haunted, EdgEnd, BlackBall, From The Ashes
Will Brawley, Liars Pacifist Podcast

Go stream it. Go buy it. Go see them live. Three To One is the real deal.

– Will Brawley, Liars Pacifist Podcast
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