Review Summary: Thursday, ever the movers and shakers that they are, push forward with their best work in a decade.
Ever since
Full Collapse Thursday have tried to make their sound thicker and thicker. The results, so far, have been varied but mostly positive. From the not-quite-
Full Collapse of
War All the Time to the cacophonous departures of
A City By the Light Divided to the subtle return to form of
Common Existence the band has tried experimenting with every aspect of the ever-broadening spectrum of post-hardcore. With
No Devolucion they’ve finally found that sweet spot. And how sweet it is.
For one thing the production is
killer, easily the best of their discography. Thursday’s ever enigmatic vocalist Geoff Rickly’s haunting vocal melodies are done as if spoken to some far off, long lost lover rather than shouted at some kid down the street. A near-perfect example of this is the slow, spindly “Empty Glass,“ which tells a story of lost wedding wings and broken down love.
Intertwined with what is easily his best recorded performance is the fantastic instrumental work.
No Devolucion makes use of a wide palette of sounds and samples keeping the album from falling into the somewhat repetitive nature of their last several releases. The end result is Thursday’s most mature-sounding, taut work yet. They haven’t forgotten how to rock though- offerings like “Open Quotes” throw a veritable wall of sound at the listener, a screamed intro fashioned alongside a huge guitar riff, reminding us that Thursday still remember their “hardcore” roots during months and months of New Brunswick basement shows.
What Thursday have managed to do with
No Devolucion is simply perfect the sound they’ve been striving for in a post-
Full Collapse world. It’s a fantastic, sweeping album full of all the power and emotion you’ve come to expect from the band only with so much more in tow. It would be hard to imagine a single hardcore fan of the band being disappointed with this latest offering as there is so much to love. Thursday truly have struck gold, and they did it as they’ve always done- without retread. And that in and of itself is something to be celebrated.
