SEATTLE — Call Thrice post-hardcore, melodic hardcore, experimental, alternative, art rock or emo, and you’d be right. Their Showbox set – celebrating the 20th anniversary of The Artist in the Ambulance – showcased a little bit of it all.

As the band took the stage and launched into a verbatim rundown of the album, the opening chords of “Cold Cash and Colder Hearts” had fans immediately singing along, no buildup needed.

The harder, heavier chords of songs like “Under a Killing Moon” and “Paper Tigers” wove effortlessly with catchy and more melodic fan favorites, like “All That’s Left,” “Stare at the Sun” and the title track.

The effect was a powerful near-constant sing- and scream-along punctuated by Dustin Kensrue’s always-poignant lyrics and Teppei Teranishi’s clean, sharp riffs–all supported by the precision of Eddie and Riley Breckenridge’s rhythm section.

The latter may be the true unsung hero of the show. The accuracy and coherence of Riley’s sharp drumming and Eddie’s bass accents created the power so characteristic of Thrice, generating the impact fans know and love.

Eddie Breckenridge hasn’t lost his stage presence, either, bringing the same power he applies to his riffs into his body language and accents to Kensrue’s screams.

Riley Breckenridge’s synchronized arpeggiation and rock-solid timing created a robust, unshakeable foundation for the rest of the band’s sound to layer on top of; a thunderous, powerful counterpoint to nimble guitar riffs and incisive lyrics. This pulsing, powerful bottom laced with Teranishi’s agile melodies provided the force and intensity.

Then there were Kensrue’s vocals, which have unquestionably evolved and expanded over the years to take on a texture only experience can provide. Frankly, he’s better than he’s ever been.

From his punk-inspired days and his signature screams on the earliest albums, to even bluesy turns on Vheissu and his solo projects, to the more melodic progressive quality they take on the most recent records, he brought it all.

None of his range went to waste during the set, with Kensrue’s more mature, adaptable vocal depth and range matched by his thoughtful, heartfelt lyrics.

Things got especially interesting as the group transitioned away from the known territory of the album and started meandering through a patchwork of past and present. Appropriately, Thrice jumped into its first off-album song, The Artist in the Ambulance B-side “Motion Isn’t Meaning,” one of the few songs to which the entire room didn’t sing along.

Then Thrice transitioned to its newer sounds, with “Summer Set Fire to the Rain,” from Horizons/East, where Kensrue’s lyrics took a less distinct quality and his vocals a softer tone. Attendees overpowered his vocals, lilting to the refrain, “How long, how long?”

Then the band pulled out the anthemic “Black Honey,” a sharp if veiled criticism of U.S. foreign policy; the metaphorical bear swatting a hive for honey, wondering why it’s getting stung. Breckenridge drove the song with his ominous but catchy bass loop against Kensrue’s alternating croons and screams.

Next, Illusion of Safety fans got treated to a reprise of “Where Idols Once Stood,” featuring one of Kensrue’s lyrical motifs critiquing culturally defined truths, transitioning into hard-and-fast classic perfect for the mosh pit, “Deadbolt.”

Thrice touched on Beggars with “The Weight” and Major/Minor with “Yellow Belly,” then finished the show with one of its more unique, blues-inspired pieces from Vheissu, “The Earth Will Shake,” where Teranishi shined with the eerie, piano-organ chords that punctuate the last chorus of the song.

The encore was a well-orchestrated opportunity to give a nod to the subtle but undeniable influence of The Beatles, with an appropriately heavy version of “I Want You/She’s So Heavy.”

To wrap it all up, the band played its only song from To Be Everywhere is to Be Nowhere, “The Long Defeat,” the perfect ballad to bring the crowd together with Kensrue’s characteristic message of hope and togetherness even in the midst of suffering. The final line reverberated through the crowd without the support of the music: “We’ll never see the sun, but together we’ll fight the long defeat.”

Holy Fawn opened the show with a seven-song set of haunting atmospheric melodies and shoegaze-y vocals.

The band started out mellow and ambient with “Candy” and “Dark Stone,” slowly building up through “Death is a Relief” and “Void of Light,” wrapping up with the intensity of “Seer.” The latter song provided an emotional crescendo that capped the set well.

The songs of Holy Fawn had a bait-and-switch effect, setting the tone with melodies awash in an ambient, oceanic quality before accenting the almost waltzy melodies with Ryan Osterman screaming the vocals.

Follow writer Crystal Hoshaw at Twitter.com/CrystalHoshaw.