Review / Multiple Authors
Thursday / Envy
Split

Envy is having an extremely busy year in 2008: re-releasing much of their back catalog, the Abyssal EP, a split with Jesu, and now a split with Thursday (actually, between the two splits and the EP, Envy could very well have released a new full-length on their own). Thursday, on the other hand, is in the midst of a fairly quiet year while writing their next full-length. This is a fairly odd pairing on a split release and wholly unnerving in the ease of which this comes across to the two band's listening audiences. For the most part these two groups stand at two completely opposite ends of the "punk, hardcore, and independent music scenes" due to Envy being a Japanese band that is mostly lauded by the punk community while Thursday is usually lavished with attention from the MTV watching public. The packaging for this split release is truly exquisite with multiple versions of silk screened covers and very clean looking presentation; the release also benefits from the inclusion of the CD with the LP for this limited offering, although how limited, I am not quite sure.

The three songs available here from Envy fit well with the other new material that they have released this year. "An Umbrella Fallen into Fiction" contains a pulsing electronic beat in the beginning instead of analog drums while a keyboard flourish accompanies the spoken word vocals by Tetsuya Fukagawa and the gentle picking of the guitars. Envy's use of dynamics still is very prevalent on two of the three pieces on their side of the split release; the quick build up and explosive movement in "An Umbrella Fallen into Fiction" is impressive, but other than that momentary climactic moment, the song is very mellow. Whereas "Pure Birth and Loneliness" is more dynamically subtle and shifts multiple times during the course of the song. The tempo of "Isolation of a Light Source" is a bit surprising and hearkens back to the band's early work; there are these stops or rests that seem to be a proverbial deep breath before diving in to a furious outpouring of activity that sit in spots of the songs. If one listens to the Envy side of the split as a whole instead of as songs the dynamic of the whole record presents what seems to be a purposeful pacing with the slower and moody "An Umbrella Fallen into Fiction" leading things off, the steady and rock solid "Pure Birth and Loneliness" closing the proceedings, and the faster and aggressive "Isolation of a Light Source" sitting in between the two.

Several years ago, I was in attendance at a show in the glorious state of New Jersey where several of my friends decided to go as well. My one friend worked for several bands on Victory records in a roadie/merch-person capacity. At one point, he noticed someone that he knew who worked for Victory at the show. When he asked her what she was doing there, she stated rather blatantly that her reason for attendance was to "scout out" a band on the show's docket and potentially sign them to replace the recently departed Boy Sets Fire on Victory's roster. Talk about a sour taste in my mouth. Three things immediately bothered me. One, Victory was "scouting" a band to directly replace another band that sold well for them purely because they felt that the two sounded similar and had a similar "sensitivity". Two, Boy Sets Fire was, by that time, complete anathema to me (after being worn out on them for a multitude of reasons by the time their In Chrysalis EP was released), so any band compared to them would be doomed in my eyes. Three, it was the last nail in the coffin for me in realizing that in many ways, punk rock was simply a marketing tool or scheme. When Thursday played that night, I made it through a half a song and walked out due to my absolute disgust with hearing that conversation. After seeing them several times over the years since, my opinion on them has not changed. Their music is not offensive to me, but the vocals are not that good.

This release is purely worth my time and most other people with an appreciation for their take on music, due to the Envy side of the record. Envy continues to build their impressive discography with more and more quality music. If you are not aware or have not had the pleasure of hearing Envy yet, now is as good a time as any. And who knows, maybe you too will be struck with the vinyl record buying disease or addiction since it comes with the CD. I will be honest; I will never listen to the Thursday songs. They are nice guys, or seem that way; but I have heard plenty enough of them in the past to know that I will not like their side at all and therefore refuse to waste my time doing so.

The pairing of a so-called emo band from New Jersey and a screamo/post-rock band from Japan may seem odd. But for those well versed in the recordings of both Thursday and Envy, this partnering of punk-minded individuals makes a lot of sense.

Thursday begin the split with "As He Climbed the Dark Mountain." The sound set forth by the New Jersey quintet is akin to their most recent full-length. The music is heavily textured and melodic, falling someplace between the worlds of hardcore, traditional emo, and post-rock. If the rest of the band's next album is anything like this song, it may just be their best album to date

yes, even better than Full Collapse. The instrumental piece "In Silence" follows and showcases a side of the band I've become more intrigued with, their use of instrumental pieces on their recordings. It's a fairly new act to their repertoire, but it's a great addition. "In Silence" is a brooding piece that boasts haunting guitar noodling and electronic effects centered around the piano; it could easily be used as the backdrop to a major motion picture ala Explosions in the Sky. "An Absurd and Unrealistic Dream of Peace" is a return of Thursday to what they do best, fusing melody and aggression in perfect balance. Their side is closed out by "Appeared and was Gone," a reworking on "In Silence" by Anthony Molina of Mercury Rev. It's an interesting interpretation but I prefer the original.

On the other side Envy offers up three tracks that fall right in line with their latest output. While originally leaning in the traditional screamo sound, the band has lately delved into a softer and more intricate and delicate style. "An Umbrella Fallen into Fiction" is centered around electronic beats, various synths, and spoken word from Tetsuya Fukagawa for four minutes; the final two minutes boasts a sudden and increased flourishment of harmonizing guitars and fluid rhythms while Fukagawa delivers a coarse scream - this definitely saves the song from being a bore. "Isolation of a Light Source" and "Pure Birth and Loneliness" bring to mind the band's release Insomniac Doze. as they walk the line between the epic nature of post-rock and the ferocity of screamo. Both songs are great but the more aggressive "Isolation of a Light Source" wins out as my favorite on their side of the split.

I understand it may be difficult for fans of Thursday to "get" Envy and for those who love Envy to feel their alignment with Thursday to be a ploy of some sort. Who really cares about that though? This split is a release that not only looks good on paper, but also is a fantastic listen. Grab a copy today before it is out of print.