Project Description
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THORNHILL
‘BODIES’
Album Review
– A Raw Dive into Passion,
Desire, and the Abyss
(22nd March 2025)
Review by Sylwia Green
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Photo Credit: Jon Pisani
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In their most unfiltered album, Melbourne’s heavy hitters embrace chaos and catharsis.
Hailing from Melbourne, Thornhill has been carving their name into the alternative metal scene since 2015. Their last album, ‘Heroine,’ showcased a cinematic, stylised approach to heavy music that earned them ARIA and AIR nominations but also left some fans yearning for more.
‘Bodies,’ their third full-length album, answers that call. It’s a record that sheds the polish for something raw, urgent, and utterly gripping.
The Floodgates Open Where ‘Heroine’ felt like a fever dream wrapped in velvet (or, you could say, ‘Blue Velvet’), ‘Bodies’ rips through like a lightning strike. This time, Thornhill trades in calculated precision for instinctual intensity, embracing spontaneity in sound and structure.
The result? A record that captures Thornhill right now—ferocious, vulnerable, and ready to make you feel every scream, whisper, and distortion-drenched riff.
👉 Read also:
● Thornhill Announce ‘Bodies’—Album Preview Shows
● Thornhill ‘The Dark Pool’ Album Review
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The Sound of Desire and Destruction
‘Bodies’ is an album that doesn’t just explore passion and toxicity—it becomes them. The record mirrors the push and pull of destructive relationships, its dynamic shifts in sound capturing the emotional turbulence of obsession, desire, and self-destruction. The new album trades the cinematic polish of ‘Heroine’ for something more primal, more immediate.
As the band put it in their interview for Kerrang!: “With ‘Bodies,’ we’ve embraced a more immediate, unfiltered approach that feels like a lightning bolt, looking to capture the energy of ‘Thornhill right now.’”
And that energy is palpable from start to finish.
The influence of early Deftones looms large, but this isn’t just imitation—it’s evolution. Jacob Charlton’s vocals are at their most haunting, channelling Chino Moreno’s signature ethereal delivery while maintaining his uniquely captivating presence.
The guitars lurch between eerie, melodic whispers and all-out distortion-driven chaos. Each track is a new chapter in the album’s exploration of dangerous attraction, and the music makes sure you feel every moment of it.
Sharp Riffs, Distorted Vocals & Piercing Lyrics
That push-and-pull tension is immediate in ‘nerv,’ the album’s lead single. A jarring mix of distorted screams, razor-sharp riffs, and hypnotic melodies, it captures the battle between longing and self-preservation. The lyrics cut deep: “Beneath your blade, my pain was made for you. I had so many words fall into my web.”
The accompanying self-directed video reinforces the song’s themes, blurring the lines between intimacy and destruction. If ‘nerv’ resonates with you, ‘Revolver’ and ‘Silver Swarm’ will drag you deeper into the album’s emotional abyss.
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Not every track is about all-consuming destruction, though. ‘Only Ever You’ strips back the aggression, giving Charlton’s softer vocals room to breathe. It’s the kind of song that makes you feel like the main character in a tragic love story, staring out a rain-streaked window, lost in thought. It’s a cinematic moment on an album that otherwise thrives on unrelenting intensity.
The Sound that Pulls You In
Then there’s ‘Tongues,’ one of the most thematically self-aware songs on ‘Bodies.’ In the interview with The RockPit, the band describes it as a reflection of their own relationship with heavy music—the constant battle between surrendering to it and resisting its grip. “[the track] explores the tension of being pulled between opposing forces—desire and resistance, surrender and defiance. In many ways, it reflects our own relationship with heavy music, the push and pull between being consumed by it or resisting its grip. The song’s atmosphere feels like an ongoing battle, shifting between aggression and restraint.”
That sense of push and pull defines ‘Bodies’ as a whole, making ‘Tongues’ a perfect distillation of what this album represents.
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A Career-Defining Moment?
Thornhill has thrived in reinvention, and ‘Bodies’ is proof of that—the album is instinctual and wild. This shift won’t resonate with everyone—some might miss the cinematic elegance of their previous work—but it undeniably captures the band’s raw essence. If ‘The Dark Pool’ put them on the map and ‘Heroine’ refined their artistry, ‘Bodies’ is the moment they let loose and truly become themselves.
For fans of Deftones and Nine Inch Nails, Thornhill’s new album is a must-listen. It’s unfiltered, it’s immersive, and it’s the sound of a band unchained.
When the album drops on April 4th, expect to see Thornhill solidify their standing in the alternative metal scene. Because every song on Bodies is a step deeper into the fire.
It’s an album that doesn’t tell you about obsession—it pulls you into its thrall. You don’t just hear these songs—you feel them, live inside them, and maybe, just maybe, struggle to escape them.
✅ You may also like: Deftones, Nine Inch Nails, ERRA, Make Them Suffer
✅ My top tracks: nerv, Revolver, Only Ever You
✅ Skip it if: You liked Thornhill in their softer form.
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‘BODIES’
Tracklist
01. DIESEL
02. Revolver
03. Silver Swarm
04. Only Ever You
05. fall into the wind
06. TONGUES
07. nerv
08. Obsession
09. CRUSH
10. under the knife
11. For Now
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Destroy All Lines, Future History Management & UNFD Presents
THORNHILL
BODIES
Album Preview Shows
WITH SPECIAL GUESTS
SIGNALS + MELTING
TOUR DATES:
THURSDAY 27 MARCH – HOWLER, MELBOURNE (18+)
SATURDAY 29 MARCH – CROWBAR, BRISBANE (18+)
SUNDAY 30 MARCH – OXFORD ART FACTORY, SYDNEY (18+)
Tickets from destroyalllines.com
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Photo Credit: Jon Pisani
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Follow THORNHILL
Website – Instagram – Facebook – Twitter
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Press Release 6th February 2025 (below) HERE
Destroy All Lines, Future History Management & UNFD Presents
THORNHILL
announce
BODIES
album preview shows
with special guests
SIGNALS + MELTING
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