Converge--Heads Above the Competition
Published August 26, 2003
Some bands only take 200-300 words to review. Some--if we are really being honest--would only take one or two words to review. However, once in a while a band will rear their head that takes a music reviewer completely by surprise and , for whatever reason, cause a writers block because of the sheer talent displayed by said band members. Equal Vision Records metal-core band Converge is one of those bands.
Upon first popping Converge's latest full-length, Jane Doe, into my CD player, I was greeted with what millions of you out their have been abusing your ears with for months now--pure aural chaos. Never in my 10 years in the scene have I heard a band be able to be in so many different musical places at the same time and still come out of the quandary with an incredible tight, distinct and--dare I say--groundbreaking sound as the boys in Converge have done.
Now, I know a lot of you are thinking out there. "Jeff, this 'metal-core' thing is way over done and, quite frankly, most of it isn't any good to begin with." To this, I would say, you are exactly right. Unfortunately, labels like Solid State Records have started to sign any band that even remotely begins to resemble a metal band. Seriously, a double bass and a Slayer shirt DOES NOT MAKE YOU A METAL BAND. What does make you a metal band? Sheer intensity? Yes. A scary appearance? In some cases. Ear piercing vocals spotted with mind blowing drums, exquisite guitar riffs and sternum shattering bass lines? Definitely.
So, while I am holding back and still trying to keep this review to as brief as is possible, below you will find a big empty space. In this space is 1,000,000 words adjectives that describe how unbelievably talented and heads above the rest Converge is. Jane Doe will go down as this generations "Reign in Blood". Trust me.
Jeff Petermann
- Converge--Heads Above the Competition
- Published: August 26, 2003
- Type:
- Section: Music
- Writer: Jeff Petermann
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I agree with you completely about this CD. I have left behind a lot of my metal/hardcore/metal-core days. I used to really love bands like Acid Bath, Candiria, Meshuggah, the Dillinger Escape Plan, etc, but now I only listen to that stuff when I am in a specific mood. Upon a recommendation I listened to Jane Doe by Converge and I was greeted with this unbelieveably accessible hardcore album that had remnants of the Dillinger boys, while being as accessible as bands like Candiria and Acid Bath.
Highlights of the disc were tracks 9 and 10 "Phoenix in Flight" and "Phoenix in Flames" respectively. These are like what it would sound like if your deathmetal/hardcore band wanted to make a hardcore atmospheric combination of the dillinger escape plan and Dark Side of the Moon.
Not everyone will appreciate it, but anyone who gets bombarded by the same old thing over and over again and is looking for something new should appreciate it.