Converge
Axe To Fall

It is difficult to say something original in a musical field like hardcore/grind. Too many bands sound like identical clones, often without having solid "theoretical/technical" foundations, believing that noise for its own sake is inherently valuable (in some sporadic cases, it is, or it was, but unfortunately, incessantly reproducing "Scum" is a quite sterile operation). There are a handful of bands that, on the contrary, being endowed with a deeper musical sensitivity, excellent songwriting ability and, not least, a more solid technique, manage to say something original even in this field. The mind immediately goes to names like The Dillinger Escape Plan, Kylesa, Today is The Day and, indeed, Converge who have marked the "zero years" with a series of stunning albums: in 2001 "Jane Doe" (a milestone), 2004 "You Fail Me" (a decisive step towards darker sounds), in 2006 "No Heroes" (another great album). At the end of 2009, "Axe To Fall" is released, concluding the decade beautifully.

The album in question represents a summa/synthesis of the typical "Converge-sound" elements, which fuses punk/HC with the varied influences admitted by the band members themselves (from metal to noise) in a homogeneous and original melting pot. The album's opening is entrusted to four brief and very intense tracks, with Kurt Ballou's guitars in the foreground; the opener "Dark Horse" is immediately a metal-core punch, in the truest sense of the word: HC structure coupled with an almost speedmetal guitar style, a kind of Mastodon turned punk. The first part concludes with the choral and detonating "Effigy", featuring members of Cave In (where Converge drummer Ben Koller plays), adding to Converge's HC the "spatial" riffing and keyboards of Cave In themselves. The album's central part reveals pleasant surprises: "Worm Will Feed" and "Wishing Well" (with vocals and guitars of Uffe Cederlund from Disfear) border on a heavy sludge (we are in Eye Hate God territories), slowed and oppressive, and a trio of tracks ("Damages", "Losing Battle", "Dead Beat") that bring back the HC/grind assault of "No Heroes" with thrash-metal roots and pave the way for the two concluding songs, where Converge step on the brake pedal again, releasing the surprising "Cruel Bloom" and "Wretched World". The former, which sees the fundamental collaboration of Steve Von Till (do I need to say who he plays with?), is built on the typical alternation between climax and anticlimax, starting as a sick blues ballad (Von Till seems like an angrier version of Tom Waits) and concluding in a crescendo of heavy distortions and tribal rhythms (stylistically reminiscent of "Grim Heart / Black Rose" from the previous album). The conclusion is entrusted to "Wretched World", a seven-minute suite highlighting Mookie Singerman's (from Genghis Tron) keyboards and clean singing, and a great synth work that might seem like a tribute to bands like Depeche Mode and Cure (does anyone remember Converge's beautiful version of "Disintegration?") and that represents the emotional and electronic core of the album (who said "shoegaze"?).

As they have accustomed us, even Jacob Bannon's lyrics (also responsible for the artwork) are of excellent level, avoiding clichés and resulting very personal and intimate, between self-reflection ("My barren plan to be a better man, Rots in abandoned fields"), and anger ("I’ve fed their rabid feast yet, Still pick from my own bones").

In conclusion, Converge has crafted an excellent album (perhaps a step below the unattainable "Jane Doe") that condenses the frustration, anguish, and anger of "modern" hardcore into forms mediated by "other" influences (electronics, blues, noise) brought by numerous guests/friends (besides those already mentioned, there are members of Hatebreed, 108, Red Chord, Blacklisted, and Cage) that deserves more than one listen to be fully appreciated (furthermore, it could be a good starting point for those who do not know Converge, as it contains some of the combo's most accessible songs).