It's hard to say with how much anticipation I awaited this CD. I was waiting for Converge at the turning point.
I feared that they too had chosen to make stylistic evolution coincide with musical regression, following the minimalist turn of the masters Neurosis, marking time while stepping back.
"Jane Doe" had worn me out with its fierce agony; I had never experienced such tension, encapsulated in all its expressive forms in a single work. "You Fail Me" had left me staggered; the choice to emphasize the substance of music by reducing form to its bare bones had borne fruit but had channeled the sound experience into something controlled, perhaps rational in its nihilism.
I was waiting for Converge at the turning point. I saw the crossroads before them. Structuring or Destructuring. And they chose the third way. Hybridization.
They combined the scream of despair from "Jane Doe" with the bloody gaze of "You Fail Me". Everything in this album is hybrid, starting with the artwork: a shadow of a dove lunges toward us, freed from the stop imposed by the shadow of the hand that appeared on the previous album; behind it is a dial, the same that appeared behind the unknown soldier five years ago. The fan-like layout (the same as in Y.F.M.) encloses new indefinable figures of the unknown soldier (printed on the same cardboard as J.D.) and at its extremes, where two years ago we found “living everyday, dying everyday”, we have “their days are over, our nights are here”. The lyrics are as we left them, undivided among themselves, like a single poem.
But the most shocking hybrid of this experience is the music.
The adrenaline-pumping start (wisely titled Heartache) takes us back in time, to when pressing the play button erased our mental sanity in an instant, inexorably overwhelmed and torn apart by the entity called Concubine. Mid tempo and alien-speed outbursts return vilely to crush our bodies, while we hear Jacob Bannon's cries of fierce pain join our own.
And just when we expect the shockwave of this explosion with a new Fault and Fracture, instead we receive crazy splinters in pure Y.F.M. style; their names are Hellbound, Sacrifice and Vengeance. We kneel, pierced in every part of the body, bleeding pain from every pore. And not even five minutes have passed.
And here comes a most welcome return; Weight of the World is indeed a track in pure J.D. style (Hell to Pay), almost sludge in its slow and dragging advance; in its simplicity and brevity, it seems almost a bridging piece, inserted to lighten the tension. But unfortunately, it results in being multiplied rather than diminished. And certainly for our health, given the next three tracks, it might have been better if Converge had shown us some mercy. The title track (viewing the video is recommended) is perhaps the most "classic" piece of the CD; it is the Fault and Fracture that did not hit us earlier, which with its relentless progress returns to renew the sonic massacre that had been interrupted for a few minutes, with its alternation of roars and rustles. But the most shocking part of the album is yet to come.
Plagues has a very simple structure, almost drone-like in concept: it consists of two colossal riffs, alternating without interruption, eventually accompanied by the other instruments in a true catharsis. For almost five minutes we are deprived of the ability to breathe, such is the oppression this track creates. But it's just the door to the album's suite, Grim Heart/Black Rose. Its position certainly refers back to the title track of the previous album, and the second part of the song is also musically so; but in the first part, its cadenced and desperate progress takes us inexorably back to the song that concluded J.D. The choice to have it sung by a guest, Jonah Jenkins from Milligram, whose sick voice perfectly matches the atmosphere of defeat generated by the track, is interesting.
The album could very well end here, but instead, it continues with tracks not always on par with the first part. Noteworthy are Lonewolves, with a beautiful spoken vocal part, and Bare my Teeth, a rather unsettling track, as it seems in every aspect like a piece coming from the historic CD When Forever Comes Crashing.
After listening, all the elements that make this album a hybrid are clear: Jacob Bannon's voice maintains the dark setting of Y.F.M. and continues to emphasize the sudden drum stops, but in their absence, it resumes the cerebralism of J.D. that we loved so much. The guitar largely regains the gain that was completely eliminated in the previous CD and alternates very dry riffs with others fluid and alien in sound. The drums allow fewer outbursts and emphasize both the voice parts and the guitar parts much more; especially the number of insanely fast blast beats that characterized Y.F.M. is reduced. The bass is perhaps the most conservative element, played entirely with a pick and very punk.
I apologize for the obscenity and prolixity of this writing of mine, but I felt the need to review the latest chapter of this group, which changed my life.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Hellbound (01:07)
for lost hope and his son
i’ll avenge what once was
for his name and his love
these cold hands spill their blood
grant me the strength
to stand up straight
to make them pay
spill their blood
grant me the strength
to bear this weight
show me the way
spill their blood
04 Vengeance (00:58)
enemies eve
burn to believe
guns in the ground
are all i see
love liars thieves
all targets to me
jaws at my heels
mean nothing to me
knives at your throats
all that i see
don’t doubt me
i am vengeance
i’m built for war
06 No Heroes (03:43)
in vein and valor
be what they fear
their days are over
our nights are here
with hate and heartache
i’ll strike you down
with rage and rapture
i crush your crown
no more gods
no more graves
no more love
no more hate
hell hammer comes down
onto their blade
our world of widows
needs to be saved
it’s now or never
victim or victory
rebel or regret
who you are and who you claim to be
no more heroes
no more
no more
in my world of enemies
i walk alone
09 Orphaned (01:39)
Bright eyes Fading young eyes Beaten to black and blue Sunrise has been sinking since I was two One wounded and another dead I've spent years building these walls When all of this time my sky has been falling Burden to bare this anger is empty but heavy My heart carries the weight of your world My wounds are open I am out of blood
10 Lonewolves (02:18)
from a victim to a friend
don’t ever let them in
keep your scars on your sleeve
and your heart in your hands
all the whores with their wars
their gaping mouths want more
all of them choke on regret
we sit in silence
dead or dedicated
alive or medicated
a coward queen or harlot heart
it’s up to you
this world owes you nothing
this world owes me nothing
this world owes us nothing
but a hard road to walk
these mountains that we climb
is everything they’ve lost
this world owes us nothing
but a hard road to walk
these mountains that we move
are everywhere we look
it’s all up to me and you
14 To the Lions (03:40)
to the lions
as she closes her doors
to end this night
this raging sea
won’t have you
this weary grave
won’t keep you
these tired arms
won’t hold you
as she closes her doors
to the lions
inferno dreams
won’t leave you
this moonless night
won’t guide you
these brittle ghosts
won’t love you
as she closes her doors
queen of guilt
queen of grief
remember them
(erase me)
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Other reviews
By MORPHEO 33
It’s a derailing train at full speed that tramples everything and doesn’t stop in front of anything.
Those with weak hearts, abstain!!
By Fingers up my noose
A mature album that encapsulates and blends most of the elements that have characterized the sound and soul of Converge.
The title track is a real gem of destruction and a hymn to anti self-celebration and celebrations in general.