For those who find themselves in the band Thursday, life must seem unfair. On one hand you are part of one of the most accomplished bands in the alternative scene, have had major label success and have gathered one of the most devoted fan bases any band can boast of. On the other hand, you are forced to work a side retail job to stay financially afloat when not on tour, your major label success was fleeting, and a large portion of your fan base yearns (and at times, demands) a return to a sound you created nearly a decade ago. What is a band, like Thursday, to do? Well, if the group’s recent actions are any indication, then a veteran band should announce that they are “radically departing” from their earlier sound and proceed to create the best album of their career. After all, that is what Thursday decided to do.

With the release of No Devolución, Thursday’s sixth album, the group finds themselves at the summit of the post-hardcore mountain. No Devolución is a magnificent piece of melodic art that will go down as one of the essential albums of the genre. Layer upon layer of sound is buffered by the atmospheric vocals of Geoff Rickly. Electronic elements are sprinkled throughout, adding a component of elegance and sophistication not heard on any of the sextet’s previous efforts. At any moment during any song, it seems a sonic shift from lo-fi, almost ambient ambiance, to heavy explosions of layered viciousness will send the listener into a dizzying collage of emotions. With No Devolución, Thursday show that they are dead set on raising the bar for melodic albums.

“Fast To The End” begins the journey, foreshadowing what No Devolución will offer for the next eleven tracks. Powered by Tucker Rule’s blistering percussions and Rickly’s soft vocals, the song twists and turns through a maze of different electronic sounds, slowly building as Rickly screams, “Faster, faster!” “No Answer” follows with a vengeance, allowing the listener no chance to catch one’s breath. Guitarist Tom Keeley and Steve Pedulla rift and distort their instruments, adding a brilliantly executed backdrop to Rickly’s ever-soaring vocals.

Thursday takes their foot off the peddle for “A Darker Forest” and “Sparks Against The Sun.” The former is a heavy track that seems impossibly suspended in the air, much in the same guise as fellow melodic juggernauts, Thrice. Throughout “A Darker Forest” Thursday finds a way to contain their chaos, but every so often that chaos escapes as a quick-hitting percussion explosion. “Sparks Against The Sun” finds keyboardist Andrew Everding shining as he dazzlingly coats the crunchy guitars with electronic elements. Often times the contributions of keyboardists are overlooked, but on No Devolución Everding refuses to be ignored. Both tunes are imaginative and unique takes on melodic mores.

“Open Quotes” puts a definitive end to the first subdued section of No Devolución, as the song opens up with a gut-curling scream from Rickly. Although No Devolución offers the least amount of screaming found on any Thursday record, when Rickly does provide the hard vocals, it is sure to send tingles up the listener’s spine.  “You got a taste for the candy contracts” Rickly sings, “and that’s why you kiss your wife with a Saccharin sweet smile.” Lyrically, he is on top of his game. “Past And Future Ruins” follows, again employing the smartly placed keys courtesy of Everding, the pounding percussions of Rule, and the heart-on-his-sleeve lyrics and brutal screams of Rickly.

“Magnets Caught In A Metal Heart,” “Millimeter,” and “Turnpike Divides” are the most accessible of all the tracks on No Devolución. All three have catchy choruses that are the closest Thursday comes to replicating their sound on 2001’s Full Collapse and 2003’s War All The Time. These three songs are powered throughout by eccentric guitar melodies. The listener will also thoroughly enjoy the grooves courtesy of bassist Tim Payne.

The second subdued period on No Devolución is found when the lo-fi simplicity of “Empty Glass” abandons the heavy percussions and crunchy guitars in exchange for ambient keys and Rickly’s spacey vocals. Rickly croons over a lost love as he sings, “Sold my wedding ring to another man // Who was drunk in lust far away from home // Now I’m waking up with an empty hand.” It is a hypnotizing four-and-a-half minutes. Yet, this subdued period is quickly ended by “A Gun In The First Act,” a barnburner of a track that builds until an avalanche of sound is dropped on the listener.

If the listener is able ward off the emotional exhaustion that the first eleven tracks elicit, they will be paid off with the best track on No Devolución. The final song, “Stay True,” may be the best track Thursday has ever created. Clocking in at nearly eight minutes, it is a layered masterpiece. It starts off with a quiet, lonely guitar before being joined by a slowly building, heavy percussion progression. As the song builds, Rickly moves in, quietly singing over a blanket of sound, seemingly falling through the sky in a dream-like state. Thursday builds the anticipation sluggishly before launching into a tirade of crunching guitar riffs and crushing percussions. Rickly nearly freaks out as the passion oozes from every syllable of every word he sings. “Stay true! // Believe me when I say // It’s the hardest thing to do // Stay True! They’ll kill you by inches // Don’t let them make a move // STAY TRUE! // Look me in the eye // and promise me one thing: // Stay true.” It is a bass-heavy, passion-driven, perfect ending to a near perfect album. No Devolución is the magnum opus of Thursday’s brilliant career. Good luck to any band wanting to remove Thursday from their perch upon the summit of Mt. Post-Hardcore.

*****/*****

*This review was composed by Mike Meeze