Today is Thursday, October 14. And I will now compose a haiku about today:
Converge plays tonight
But I have to do homework
Son of a bitch, Oh!
For all of you in the Bay Area, yeah. Converge and Cave-In are playing tonight at the Pound, SF. The only downside to that is� I can't go.
However, I did get the new CD today. You Fail Me, released two weeks ago by Epitaph. ($13.99 at Borders, Oakridge Mall, if you care.) It has 12 songs, and is 36 minutes long.
For those of you who don�t know, Converge is a punk metal band that�s almost fifteen years old. They�ve been long-time innovators in rhythm and harmony, heightening expectations for all hardcore bands.
The most logical way to critique You Fail Me is by comparison to their previous release, Jane Doe, which is hailed by all as the zenith of their career. However, I can reasonably assume that there exists no Converge fan who didn�t get this CD yet, so my job is to preach to those unfamiliar or iffy with the band.
You Fail Me doesn�t fall far from the other Converge recordings. Basically it�s still raw, versatile, and the rhythm aspect is still diverse. What Converge is famous for is playing a motif that seems completely out of time, and then playing it a few more times and then the listener realizes the pattern. Its almost like MagicEye. All though more coherent sounding than previous productions, You Fail Me is full of innovation.
The vocal work on this album is recorded better than all previous works. Jacob Bannon�s screaming sounds like what Geoff Rickly�s scream would sound like if Geoff Rickly was being slowly bisected by razor. Try not to think too hard about how Bannon�s throat will look in twenty years.
I guess what makes Converge a unique and more promising hardcore band is the fact that they are not emo at all. While all those other screamy bands seem like little boys tortured by girls, Converge sounds like professional musicians tortured by demons, epilepsy, or shell shock. Bannon does all the artwork for the band, by the way.
These are not songs that, like pop songs, stick to you like Krazyglue. Besides, the only words I can make out on the entire CD are �you fail me� (track 7). That in no way adds a downside to this CD. Anyone who thirsts for an intense musical experience beyond all other contemporary music needs to get You Fail Me.
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C.L. '04 |
