REVIEW: Split Chain - motionblur [DELUXE]
There’s something pretty satisfying about taking a debut album, throwing it back into the chaos, and seeing what happens when a whole load of other bands get their hands on it. That’s exactly what SPLIT CHAIN have done with motionblur [DELUXE]. Released via Epitaph Records, motionblur [DELUXE] takes the band’s 2025 debut and expands it into a 26-track monster, combining the original record with new material and a whole host of reworked versions featuring some of the alternative scene’s rising names. And honestly? It’s a pretty fucking good way to revisit a record that already had plenty going for it.
The original motionblur wastes absolutely no time getting into it. Under The Wire sets the tone before bored. tired. torn. and I’m Not Dying To Be Here bring that hazy, distorted heaviness that SPLIT CHAIN have made their own. Rookie and who am i? keep that momentum going, while SPIT feels like the point where everything gets a little more pissed off. Then there’s greyintheblue, The Space In Between, Subside, Headway and my mistake…, rounding out a debut that sits somewhere between shoegaze, grunge, nu-metal and the heavier edge of modern alternative music. But the deluxe edition doesn't stop there.
untitled [DLX] brings something previously hidden into the fold, while sylvia (i won't belong to you) and scatterbrain add two more pieces to the SPLIT CHAIN puzzle before things get properly interesting. Because from Under The Wire [DLX], featuring DAY ACHES, onwards, the album starts changing hands. bored. tired. torn. [DLX] gets the CONCEALER treatment, I’m Not Dying To Be Here [DLX] features SLOW DEGRADE, and Rookie [DLX] brings in WHITHER. Then COMMONER step into who am i?, FALSE REALITY take on SPIT, and RITUAL join the chaos for greyintheblue. And the collaborations keep coming.
POSTDROME appear on The Space In Between, Nodding Off take on Subside, while ROMAN CANDLE get their hands on Headway. Then my mistake... [DLX] gets a ZETRA version before GROVE STREET bring the whole thing home with untitled [DLX]. It’s a lot of music. Twenty-six tracks, to be exact. But that’s also what makes the concept work. Rather than simply chucking a couple of bonus tracks onto the end of the album and calling it a deluxe edition, SPLIT CHAIN have essentially opened up motionblur and invited their mates to fuck around with it.
And that’s where the charm lies.
There’s something genuinely cool about hearing songs like SPIT, Rookie and The Space In Between reimagined through different artists, because it takes something that belongs to SPLIT CHAIN and gives it back to the scene around them. The band have spoken about wanting to celebrate the people and scene that helped them get where they are, and that comes across far more naturally here than it would in a standard “deluxe edition” cash-in.
motionblur [DELUXE] feels like a snapshot of a scene. It’s SPLIT CHAIN saying, this is what we made - now show us what you can do with it. And while the original Under The Wire, bored. tired. torn. and I’m Not Dying To Be Here remain the backbone of the record, the additional versions give the album another reason to exist. It’s familiar, but there’s enough new energy around it to make revisiting motionblur feel worthwhile. If the original album was SPLIT CHAIN announcing themselves, motionblur [DELUXE] feels like them turning around and bringing everyone else into the room. Same songs. New faces. A whole lot more chaos. And we’re absolutely here for it.
Score: 8/10
motionblur [DELUXE] was released on 11th September 2026 via Epitaph Records.
Words: Mia Gailey
Photos: Ashlea Bea
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