Album Review

Converge – All We Love We Leave Behind

• 5th Oct 2012

There is a point in every bands career when the time comes to call it a day. To say we’re not young enough, not energetic enough, no longer relative. For Converge, that day is not today. Being on the hardcore scene for the past two decades has only made them a more powerful band, and one that many strive to achieve the critical success of.

This is still the case with their latest release, the poetically titled All We Love We Leave Behind. The album is a driving force of competitively heavy guitar and pitch perfect unclean vocals, if that is a thing. An example of this is the track “Sadness Comes Home”, which sees vocalist Jacob Bannon bellowing the songs title over Kurt Ballou’s mental guitar shenanigans (note: Ballou also produced the album). This is one song which has two distinct parts, in that the middle is very different from either end. It is things like this that have given Converge the title of being one of the most innovative punk bands out there.

The opening song, and also the first released from the album, is “Aimless Arrow”. This song sets the benchmark for the rest of the album, yet the intensity jumps with the second song, “Trespasses”. Frantic guitar, bass and drums are laden with Bannon’s growling vocals are all present. It’s a beast. One track to take note of is “Empty On The Inside”, which initially seems like your every day punk record. But, with the input of some marching band-esque drums by Ben Koller, the song takes an entirely different tone at it’s mid point, only to shift back to the punk sensibilities. In a similar vein to “Sadness Comes Home”, the middle has a drastic shift.

One of the shortest song on the album is “Vicious Muse”, which is as blistering and intrusive as possible, with the shortest of breakdowns before going into outright atrocity. This is soon followed by the albums longest track (albeit with a song between the two). The aforementioned long track, and a personal favourite from the album, “Coral Blue” starts off somewhat slow, with Nate Newton’s bass taking charge while Bannon sings over his bandmates efforts. His voice is somewhat haunting, mainly due to what he’s singing about and how he is getting his message across. The song builds from its slower beginning to slightly faster tempo, before fading to its follow.

“Precipice” is something different entirely, a completely instrumental track. Regardless, it loses none of the impact the rest of the album has had so far. In fact, the song simply lets the music speak for itself, rather than have Bannon speak for it. It is swiftly followed by the title track, another sure to be fan favourite. And, with album closer “Predatory Glow”, it comes to an end. This is hardcore punk at its best. You can’t teach old dogs new tricks, but why bother if these are the tricks of being in the industry for twenty years?

Converge really have left us with something truly astonishing. An album they can be proud of, and one which bands in the future will look to for inspiration. All We Love We Leave Behind has maybe seen the band reach their peak, but I’ll believe it when I see it.

Tracklist:
Aimless Arrow
Trespasses
Tender Abuse
Sadness Comes Home
Empty On The Inside
Sparrow’s Fall
Glacial Pace
Vicious Muse
Veins And Vails
Coral Blue
Shame In The Way
Precipice
All We Love We Leave Behind
Predatory Glow

Download: Coral Blue, Sadness Comes Home, All We Love We Leave Behind, Empty On The Inside