To get everybody in the holiday mood, I’ve updated the Christmas page with this year’s batch of songs, including three UltraJoeBot originals.  Go check it out!  In addition to UltraWifeBot, this year’s compilation also features two of my brobots – LukeMoTron and BenDroid 5000.  I hope you enjoy it.  Merry Christmas, everyone!

Split albums are kind of a strange thing.  Originally done on vinyl, the idea was that two bands could release their new material on opposite sides of the same record, splitting the production costs between them and hopefully expanding their respective fan bases.  The model has traditionally been a favorite of punk and indie bands, and it has seen somewhat of a decline over the past couple decades.  So I guess it makes sense that New Jersey post-hardcore veterans Thursday would choose this point in their career to revive the medium, having just parted ways with Island Records last year.  They share the album’s 35 minutes with Japanese screamo quintet Envy, a band who is less widely known, but who has actually been around longer.  Though many will be unfamiliar with their past work, their own brand of grandiose symphonic hardcore will certainly appeal to fans of Thursday.

Thursday’s back catalogue has established them as one of the most well-read bands of their genre, and the lyrical depth here is no exception.  They contribute the first half of the album, an ambitious four-song cycle whose titles combine to make the sentence “As He Climbed The Dark Mountain / In Silence / An Absurd Dream Of Peace / Appeared And Was Gone,” and the songs themselves seem to play out a single narrative.  The frantic energy of the first track will immediately appease fans who thought 2006′s A City By The Light Divided lacked urgency, or felt too artsy.  The band sounds more confident than ever, seamlessly incorporating the electronic experimentation from their last album with the emotional intensity they first made their name with.  At the same time, the delicate construction of the song, itself a miniature epic in just three minutes, should provide enough sustenance for anyone who thought 2003′s War All The Time felt rushed or monochromatic.

The alternating sing/scream dynamic that the band made famous on 2001′s Full Collapse is featured heavily on two of Thursday’s four songs, with vocalist Geoff Rickly sounding well-rested and ready to do battle.  His vocal delivery is spot-on, while the production is polished but never overworked.  The other two tracks, surprisingly, are instrumentals, in which the band explore new sonic territory.  “In Silence” is absolutely epic: beautiful and yet brutal, like if Sigur Rós grew tired of playing pretty music and decided instead to crush their audience with walls of distortion.  “Appeared And Was Gone” is actually a more atmospheric remix of the same song, but it stands well on its own, and is especially appropriate as a bookend wrapping up the first half of the split and segueing into Envy’s side.

It is also fitting that Envy close out the album, the focus of their three tracks being more on the ultimate release that follows a slow build than the immediate payoff that Thursday delivers.  The sprawling opener “An Umbrella Fallen Into Fiction” is one such gradual climb, featuring tasteful marimbas and spoken word interludes over reverb-drenched guitar arpeggios and sparse electronic percussion for the first four minutes or so.  An orchestral wash of distorted guitars eventually kicks in over pounding drums, along with Envy’s trademark visceral screams, creating a huge climax.  One of the most unique things about Envy’s sound is the way they create such a dense and epic atmosphere of distortion, while playing at a breakneck pace.  Bands like Isis and Hum have always succeeded at building similar sonic soundscapes out of lumbering beats and walls of guitars that plod along at lazy tempos, but Envy manage it without sacrificing energy or intensity.

This split is definitely a big step for Thursday, who could have gone in any number of directions after leaving a major label.  It is refreshing to see that they are not merely “getting back to their roots” – they are refining and fine-tuning all of the various elements that have contributed to their sound over the years, embracing their eclectic influences without abandoning any of them.  At the same time, this album will probably introduce Envy to a whole new audience that they have not yet tapped into over their 16 years together.  I have always been intrigued by the format of the split CD, and I have seen a few where the combination of two bands felt a little forced, so it is nice to see how well it can work when the two contributors’ sounds compliment each other so well.  Thursday’s upcoming full-length Common Existence is due to be released early next year, and the expectations will definitely be high after this release.  You can’t please everyone, but my only hope is that they continue to build on what they have created here.