Converge are an enigma. In a hardcore scene dominated by a DIY mentality that results in a maximum of two albums, a number of fans which – if you’re lucky – finds its way into triple figures, and an ultimate legacy consisting of a dozen frayed t-shirts on ebay, the band has managed to make ferocious and kinetic bursts of noise for the last twenty-two years. All We Love We Leave Behind proves, to use a cliche which suits the band’s music, that Converge show absolutely no signs of slowing down.
Don’t let the stereotypically emo title fool you. This is an album which would most likely turn your average thirteen-year-old Fall Out Boy fan into a quivering wreck thirty seconds into blistering opener, ‘Aimless Arrow’. No jock-masquerading-as-geek tween angst here. This album was made for one purpose only: to kick the shit out of you. That is not to say that the four self-proclaimed “hardcore kids using leftover Slayer riffs” are not musically adept. Tracks such as ‘Shame in the Way’ show a mastery of technical guitar work and fascinatingly weird time signatures that King Kerry and co. could only dream of.
‘Veins and Veils’ sees Jacob Bannon’s Poe-esque lyrical prowess reach dizzy new heights, and the treble-heavy thrash riffs and crushing beatdowns of ‘Sadness Comes Home’ and ‘Empty on the Inside’ display the level to which Converge reconcile their two principle influences of punk and metal in order to create a visceral and exciting sound.
All We Love We Leave Behind may not be the most accessible album and is possibly not the best place to start for those new to heavier genres of music, but it is a dazzling slice of musical ability and creativity which shows that the band’s title as the ‘kings of hardcore’ is as valid now as it has ever been.
FOUR STARS
