Thursday/Envy: Split E.P

The split release has a simple concept behind it. Share the fans, share the costs, share the inspiration. While being geographically opposed, America's post-hardcore legends Thursday and Japan's post-rock screamo kings Envy share a lot of similar traits likely to appeal to the other's fanbase.

Both have a penchant for searing emotional resonance and both display immense aptitude for imagination within their respective genres. However, whereas Envy seem content to take a more casual approach, Thursday are men who like to make a splashy entrance.

For Thursday's part, gone is the array of reverb which filled their previous release "A City By the Light Divided" and drew comparisons to U2 of all people. As with their seminal album "Full Collapse" the New Brunswick boys seem to have returned to their predilection for a dual mode compositional structure. Either they're laying down intensely serious power chords backed up by vigorous tremolo strums adorned with Geoff Rickley's increasingly competent vocals or they're experimenting with the nether-regions of their delay pedal, building up complex layers of shimmering guitar lines with the vocals largely absent.

While both modes have their benefits, one cannot help but wonder how much power they could carry were they prepared to combine the two. Rickley however, seems uncomfortable with the prospect of aggressive vocals when the music takes a resplendent tone.

In a quite bizarre move, Thursday have seen fit to include the same song twice within their four slots on the E.P. "In Silence" marks their solo effort at instrumental mood setting. "Appeared And Was Gone" reprises the song with the aid of Mercury Rev's Anthony Molina on remix duty. In their defence, the similar nature of the two tracks are not immediately obvious, and both mine differing qualities from the source material. Molina's goal is to accentuate the highs and lows of the track, stripping the sparser moments down to their core and letting the mood gradually build over time before exploding into a stratospheric fallout.

Third track "An Absurb and Unrealistic Dream of Peace", if it is so, is a magnificent precursor to the future of Thursday, perfectly balancing their hardcore elements with their desire to break from its constraints through epic experimentation. As distant echoes of wandering strings subtly fill the air, there is quickly an injection of earnest proclamations underlined by wrenching screams from over the horizon. "Take me home / Keep running as fast as you can / Because there’s no place to turn / On the street with no end." When it comes to anthems of the sinking ship of humanity, Thursday are hard to best.

When it comes time for Envy's part of the show thing's take a decidedly leisurely approach. Emulating the slow-build of post-rock darlings Explosions in the Sky it's almost five whole minutes before the full force of their Saetia/City of Caterpillar-esque vocal stylings come to the fore. The Japanese quintet are masters at the unleashed catharsis. Their increased vocal edge manages to add an even greater intensity to the familiar crescendo-based approach of the post-rock genre.

Seemingly aware of this cliche, "Isolation of a Light Source" eschews this dramatic increase approach altogether, throwing the listener straight in the middle of a war zone and expecting them to know how to swim. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of their compositions is the heavy use of spoken-word passages on the part of Tetsuya Fukagawa. It's a tone which blends sublimely with the gliding high-pitched cries of their guitar and interchanges superbly with their attack gear.

While it's clear that Thursday have had the greater influence exerted upon themselves by their E.P-mates both bands make a sterling effort in proving why their fans love should be interchangeable with the other.