Review : CONVERGE – “Axe To Fall”

Converge – Axe to Fall
released October 20, 2009 on Epitaph

Words cannot capture the depths of my frustration with the Massachusetts metalcore pioneers, who have been challenging heavy music audiences for nearly two tenacious decades.

This changes now.

I appreciated this album from the moment it emerged from the beautiful, grimy, and cryptic artwork of Jacob Bannon. Now his vocals have––and still––put me off some of the time (they command your full attention, even with the lyrics in hand), but I was f’n determined. See, I/you/we all need this band on our maps. Some are calling this their most accessible; I say it’s their most venturesome. And they take about 15 friends with them on this journey, from bands as disparate as Cave In (4), Himsa (10), Genghis Tron (13), and Neurosis (12).

I’d put the first nine minute/four song knockout combination up against any aggressive release this year. Then watch––er, listen––as they ably distance themselves from 99% of their brethren. With the comfortable lead, they change the pace on the slow-churning 5, and deliver a most devastating breakdown on 7. Like a lot of music with hardcore roots, much of the album focuses on personal exorcism and the looming spectres that go unperceived. Witness 1, 2, 6, 9, or 10 for obvious examples, but they are ubiquitous.

The swinging piano-driven groove in 12 comes as an unexpected detour before skidding into some of the most searing riffs I’ve ever heard from Kurt Ballou, as he continues to creatively explore his instrument. And you really gotta hand it to Nate Newton and Ben Koller, whose rhythmic counterbalance provides a rock solid anchor to what may otherwise be interpreted as discord.

It feels a bit anticlimactic once the proverbial axe has indeed fallen, concluding with a third of the guest musicians on the longest and mellowest track here. But don’t miss the forest for the trees. Truly greater than the sum of their capable parts, the Salem boys have won over a longtime critic on their seventh studio release. I hope you, too, give them your hearts and ears.

FCC OK
Try *1*, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, *10*, 12

01. Dark Horse
02. Reap What You Sow
03. Axe To Fall
04. Effigy
05. Worms Will Feed
06. Wishing Well
07. Damages
08. Losing Battle
09. Dead Beat
10. Cutter
11. Slave Driver
12. Cruel Bloom
13. Wretched World

Rating: