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No band defines modern hardcore punk more than Converge. Creatively combining the style’s best elements (instrumental precision, brute force, sweaty live shows), the band has been revered for nearly two decades. The Massachusetts institution evolved from the Slayer-worship thrash of its early ’90s material to the grisly ferocity of 2001’s Jane Doe. More cohesive than that watershed’s follow-ups (You Fail Me and No Heroes), Axe to Fall (Epitaph, 2009) seethes with a rage only a band this seasoned could summon.
What separates Converge from other hardcore bands is the Ballou/Bannon/Koller/Newton axis. Their chemistry creates explosive performances throughout Axe to Fall. The band delivers tightly wound bursts, swinging sludge, and unexpected experimental excursions. The ripping “Dark Horse” rubs elbows with the smoldering, Tom Waits-like “Cruel Bloom.” Converge shrewdly balances what its audience wants to hear with what it probably believes is better than that. Though Converge has never been afraid to take risks, it has never done so this succinctly and satisfyingly. As expected, Axe to Fall is fearsome, technical, and lyrically grim. Unexpectedly, it also feels excitingly new.
Buy:
Amazon (CD)
Amazon (MP3)
Interpunk (CD)
Deathwish, Inc. (CD, LP)
Gallows is another band to keep an eye On… I would say this is one of the best records of this Year. Jeremy from Dominican Republic
One thing that rubbed me the wrong way with this one…deep discounts at Hot Topic and Best Buy while independent stores are left to sell for 14.99, etc.
Yes, they are huge and it's nice that everyone can enjoy them…but…I don't know.
The best reviewed album of the year. No one dares dislike it. It's great, but I just want ONE bad review. Just because this is supposed to be hardcore…EVERYONE loves this? Even the mainstream.
I'm a prick huh?
Perhaps the best record ever by one of the best bands ever – people will recognize it as such. Cream rises to the top.
Re: corporate discounts – that is how the marketplace works. Consumers still decide where they spend their money.
not sure why that rubbed you the wrong way x chris x, hot topic can simply afford to buy way more X amount of copies than the indie stores. and its not like you know for sure if those copies were sold for less to hot topic by the distribution company.
also, i think this is album is pretty good. but the second half is nowhere near as good/ferocious as the 1st half. how's that for a 'bad' review? the experimental stuff doesn't do it for me either. but why would you want to read a bad review? lol
-roly
I have a confession. I simply do not "get" Converge. I've tried to get into them. I want to like them. I just can't seem to get interested.
I plan to plow through through their tracks again to see if something clicks for me.
Can someone please explain to me what makes them so great? I have a bunch of their albums (Jane Doe, You Fail Me, No Heroes, and Axe to Fall), what song should I focus on as I go through them again? If I'd trust anyone's opinion, it would be the good folks who hang out at I.O.
I am seeing them this weekend with Mastodon & High on Fire and would love to have the lightbulb go on just as I get the chance to see them.
lou – No amount of "explaining" can make one "get" a band. Either you get it or you don't. And there's no harm in the latter. There's plenty of other bands to "get."
That said, I'd suggest sitting down with Axe to Fall and ignoring their previous records for the time being. It's what they've worked towards this whole time. If you "get it," then you can work backwards and see what led up to it.
Also, if you can, get up front for Converge. They are one of the most physical live bands ever.
Lou, start with the most accessible songs: Black Cloud, No Heroes, and Dark Horse. If those songs don't do anything for you then you might as well give up, you don't HAVE to like everything you know.
The video for Black Cloud is pretty killer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U1Grif_bEI
Thanks for the suggestions folks. If there are any other good tracks to start with, I'd love to hear 'em.
And actually, yes, I find that having people whose opinion I trust "explain" a band to me can sometimes help me hear it in a new way that opens my eyes (ears?). Not always, but it's worth a try.
I'm not concerned with liking what everyone else likes – I just feel like I'm missing out on something really good b/c so many people who share my taste think Converge is the bees knees.
So… I'm looking forward to listening with fresh ears after digesting your suggestions.
Thanks!
Cosmo,
I haven't heard this record, so I can't comment on it's quality. I did enjoy this review (thanks, Boland) and your review at Pitchfork. But,
"Koller's kit is so murderous, it's practically the sound of ethnic cleansing."
I'm sure Koller would enjoy the "murderous" adjective. But ethnic cleansing?
This makes me think of how metal reviewers are constantly struggling to describe just how violent the music is. The guitarist is trying to saw your head off. The drummer will bash in your brains. The bassist will stop at nothing to make your bowels evacuate. The singer's sole reason is to tear your face off with unhinged fury. If metal artists only objective is to cause bodily harm, maybe Judas Priest should have been held liable for those kids' suicides.
Read Cosmos review in Pitchfork today. Made me think about Black Flag back in the day. A lot of hardcore fans simply did not 'get' black flag from 'My War' on. In the early to mid-80's, there was a HUGE chasm between punk and metal. It took three albums to turn the tide: Suicidal Tendencies, Master of Puppets, and DRI's Crossover. Even then, there was a big 'crossover' backlash in hc (re punk song: Full Metal Wallet). It wasn't until that Black Flag broke up that fans revisited My War, Slip it In and Loose Nut and realized how ahead of their time they were (same with Bad Brains). At least in California. BTW Kira absolutely rocked the bass.
Miskatonic has a good point. 'Practically the sound of ethnic clensing' will never be a good description of drumming.
I've listened to this a couple of times and I'm surprised to see they've gotten much better than the last couple of records. Last material I've liked by Converge a lot was on the split with Agoraphobic Nosebleed. Actually both bands shine on that spit, and it had great artwork too. Their problem still seems to be quality control, but it's hard to begrudge them 1 and 2 minute tracks that don't do much of nothing. I think it's the hardcore punk mentality also that leads to this, here we wrote these songs and they explain where we're at, some are great some not so much but what can you do. I can respect that it's just a bit jarring to hear generic 3 chorders next to supercharged metal riffs.
On that note I do sense a growing dispondency between what the guitarist is writing and what the vocalist is equipped to express, this has been for a few records now and the new one with it's heavy metal leads and near-constant guitar flash is really clashing with their singer doing his one-note hollering. It's pretty effective when the material is sludgy and punishing, but Converge are spending increasingly less and less time in that space.