Split: Thursday / Envy

Album Review

Split releases are often more than just cost-effective cross-promotional opportunities; they allow the artists involved to pay tribute to one another by taking on elements of the other's sound, whether it's Rancid and NOFX covering each other's songs verbatim as part of the BYO Split Series, or this example featuring U.S. post-hardcore band Thursday and Japanese emo veterans Envy. Comprised of three original songs from each, as well as an additional remix, this split sees Thursday incorporate some of Envy's cinematic post-rock tendencies, while the latter return the favor with an injection of back-to-basics hardcore. On Thursday's side, opener "As He Climbed the Dark Mountain" is comfortingly familiar, slotting neatly alongside the more accessible songs in the band's catalog. "An Absurd and Unrealistic Dream of Peace" is a little more obtuse, without a recognizable chorus despite the poppy, almost AFI-like melodies that frontman Geoff Rickly and guitarist Tom Keeley conspire to create. "In Silence" is their one experimental track, bringing together harsh industrial percussion with more conventional post-rock instrumentation; "Appeared and Was Gone" is the same track, remixed by Mercury Rev's Anthony Molina, but his glitchy electronic take on the track feels disjointed and over-thought. Envy's side is similarly inconsistent. "An Umbrella Fallen into Fiction" is a traditional Envy slow-burner, but "Isolation of a Light Source" fails to build on an exciting thrashy guitar riff. Closer "Pure Birth and Loneliness" is the pick of their side, boasting death growls and a lumbering stoner metal ambience. It's the heaviest track on the CD and a sign that, for Envy at least, they'd be wise to revisit their emo roots on future releases.