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Artists Of The Year
CMU Albums Of The Year 2009: Converge – Axe To Fall
By CMU Editorial | Published on Wednesday 9 December 2009
As we head towards the end of the year, we’ll be revealing, in no particular order, our ten favourite albums of 2009. Today, Converge – ‘Axe To Fall’.
Formed nearly twenty years ago, Converge shunned the rivalry between the hardcore punk and metal scenes, to become one of the bands which defined the ‘metalcore’ genre that grew up in the mid-nineties. And unlike many of their contemporaries, who either burnt out or spent years plugging away at the same old ideas, Converge’s genius has always been their ability to stick to their genre while constantly evolving.
‘Axe To Fall’ stays in similar territory to 2006’s ‘No Heroes’, though leans more on the band’s metal influences to add more texture to the often relentless barrage of noise. Kurt Ballou’s crushingly heavy guitar riffs are as apparent as ever, as are Jake Bannon’s unmistakable vocals, which sound like they come straight from his stomach.
Heaviness is all well and good, of course. But I always think that the real test of a heavy band is their quiet songs. There are hundreds of bands who can play at breakneck speeds, but many fall down when it comes to doing something more restrained. But Converge fully expose their talent for songwriting by lowering the volume on the piano-led ‘Cruel Bloom’, which rolls along under soft growls from Neurosis frontman Steve Von Till, and closer ‘Wretched World’ brings the album to rest while still hinting that it could again explode.
The ability to write good songs at lower volume means that when they crank it up they know how to play hard and fast but still keep it interesting, making ‘Axe To Fall’ a far more varied and diverse album than most could manage.
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