Wow. How Iāve waited for this thread!
Havenāt finished my breakfast but fuck it Iām going for an epic post!
There are four main things I love about Converge. The first thing is that they are the perfect fusion of passion and technicality. Punk and Hardcore playing can be sloppy but can make up for it in passion and delivery (Ramones and Black Flag, for example), whereas metal can often be very technically impressive but soulless or mechanical (Meshuggah for example). Convergeās songs consistently fuse together metal and punk to create music packed with ridiculously tight performances but never at the expense of raw-throated passion and playing.
Thatās what makes a song thatās as direct as Last Light really work. On paper, the lyrics read like the something most of us have scrawled in a notebook. However, the way they are delivered over the staggeringly tight arrangement and playing, with complete commitment and huge production leaves you no doubt- Converge mean this. It hits an emotional spot few other bands can, heavy or otherwise.
āI need a purpose and i need a reason
I need to know that there is trophy and meaning
To all that we lose and all we fight for
To all our loves and our warsā
The second reason I love them is the sheer amount of amazing music they have helped to create. Their guitarist, Kurt Ballou, has a production style which is a modern heavy update of Steve Albiniās ācarefully-placed microphones-in-a-live-roomā production. It means every Converge record sounds huge and detailed. It may be overly familiar nowadays, but thereās no doubting how its proficiency and power. Hereās just some of the bloody brilliant albums Ballouās produced:
- Cave In- Until Your Heart Stops
- Cursed- I
- Kvelertakās S/T and Meir
- Most, if not all, of Trap Themās releases
- Nails- Abandon All Life
- The Armed- Untitled (on which Ben Koller also played).
- Dillinger Escape Plan- Dissociation
Ben Koller is also an absolute machine on the drums. Yes, he can be insanely technical, but heās always grounded, pushing the songs forwards. Itās more like a heavy update of Grohlās playing on Nevermind. That means Converge albums are always fun to listen to again and again for me, because thereās so many compositional details to catch. His work in Mutoid Man and The Armed is also impeccable. The dude loves what he does and is great at it.
The third is that like Fugazi, theyāve never stopped pushing. Convergeās discography can basically be split into two at Jane Doe (and may again be split at Blood Moon). Jane Doe is rightly held as a masterpiece, but itās quite distinct to anything else they did. It has a wall-of-sound twin guitar attack that was difficult to replicate, especially after Dalbec (their second guitarist) left following its release. Bannon also adopted an approach on lyrics that he would never do again- raw, impressionistic delivery (with no set lyrics) as a mirror to the emotional confusion of breakup.
However, for all its brain and heart, its pulse is to get you screaming along in the mosh-pit. The 1:54 of Fault and Fracture still makes me want to tear shit up:
However, the second half of Jane Doe changes shape to become something more ambitious and abstract, culminating in the awesome self-titled track. Itās a skyscraping melodic epic I think very few heavy bands have come close to:
After Jane Doe, they basically became an intensely focused four-piece. I guess they realised they would never make anything as unique again so they focused on their strengths and rebuilt. Their first four-piece album, You Fail Me is wonderful, but you should get the Redux version, not the original mix. Lots more groove, space and experimentation is starting to creep in with the usual rippers.
Even when they have made slightly weaker releases, they still kick so much ass. The first fifteen minutes of No Heroes are utterly awesome, even if the rest doesnāt quite live up to it.
However, the fourth reason I love them is that Dusk in Us and All We Loveā¦ are both late-career masterpieces that bring space and groove along with the usual Converge brilliance. Iāve gone with All We Loveā¦ as I find its their most enjoyable and approachable record, and the title track carries a real punch.
I could go on and on, but really, I should get on with my day, so Iāll just leave you with some highlights from Jane Doe onwards:
The āMy Warā sludge of You Fail Me:
Itās a bit of a Slayer tribute, but itās a bloody tight one. The mid-section is killer.
I love how theyāre managed to add melody to their sound whilst still being really fierce and gut-punching. Hereās a good demonstration:
If you donāt usually like Bannonās vocals (and they are definitely an acquired taste), the atmospheric centrepiece of The Dusk In Us might be the ticket.
Finally, I would say that you shouldnāt start with Jane Doe. Itās very extreme and might put you off. Start with Dusk In Us or All We Loveā¦ and if you like those, anything post Jane Doe is at least interesting.
5 out of fucking 5.
