Album Review: Converge's All We Love We Leave Behind

This is one of the more difficult reviews for me to write. And I don't mean this in any sort of repressed emotional trauma attached to said band/album. Quite the opposite. Converge's new album All We Love We Leave Behind has consumed most of my listening space - at work, at home, in the car - honestly, I can't remember having something in such heavy rotation since Radiohead released In Rainbows. This is partly why the review has taken me longer than expected. For something so great, I figured I'd have this done in a minute. But it became more than that.

While talking to a friend of mine about the new album, he started to mention that one of the greatest things about Converge is their ability to get better at what they do. This is a group of guys who, over the past 15 years, have really grown into themselves in the best way possible. It's like that kid from Harry Potter who was ass-ugly, but then turned out to be this:

It's odd.

But Converge never started out as a buck-toothed nobody. For the most part, they've had a really solid career. This is why reviewing this album took so long. After sitting with AWLWLB, I started to go back and listen to Axe to Fall...then No Heroes...and basically just ran through their entire discography. And although they have a dynamic set of releases, All We Love We Leave Behind easily sets the bar high for what is to come from Converge.

One of our own writers Ben Goodheart admitted to withstanding from any sort of listen to Converge for the fact that "it scared him." He's not alone on this. My first introduction to Converge came when I bought Jane Doe on vinyl. Now, I enjoy metal and some of the offshoot genres it produces, but I never really could put a finger on what Converge was trying to do. It was loud, incredibly abrasive, but also hard to turn away from. These four guys knew what they were doing, and with each release their overall musicianship just kept becoming more refined. With AWLWLB, we see what is probably the most matured version of Converge yet.

This album is raw, not just gritty; it actually sounds like lead singer Jacob Bannon is in pain while screaming every lyric. Yes, I realize you can say that about any Converge album, and while that's true, this release is different. Produced by guitarist Kurt Ballou, this album was essentially meant to sound like one of their live shows: no production effects, no vocal harmonizers. This is Converge at their most stripped down. Also, oddly enough, probably their mathy-est release. The album opens with the single "Aimless Arrow", which is like listening to a harder These Arms Are Snakes track (i.e. THE MATH). From there on out is just an all out assault on you ears and soul. "Trespasses" leaves no time to recover and takes us back to the fast hardcore of You Fail Me. "Empty on the Inside" serves as one of the best tracks on the album, as well as one of the best Converge has recorded in some time. One of the most interesting tracks came out of "Coral Blue" which I would've immediately thought was a Mastodon song if I hadn't known the band before.

AWLWLB will go down as one of Converge's best releases. The decision to keep it as raw as they did payed off in every way the band could have hoped for. Before the album came out, my aforementioned friend said that this was going to be You Fail Me: Part 2. In a sense, he's very correct. You Fail Me covered a wide range of styles. This is partly why I went back and listened to their back catalogue before completing this review. You begin to hear them go back to previous albums within every song. You hear You Fail Me, but there's also alot of influence from Axe To Fall and No Heroes. Converge never forgets their roots, but they're also incredibly talented, enough to better themselves musically while keeping each release fresh and just as brutal as the last.

Like Kyle, I've never felt the need to really give out an A+ to anything, but honestly, Converge earned this grade up and down with the fantastic job they did with All We Love We Leave Behind. It's raw, aggressive and just impressive in every way. It's my number one release of 2012 for me, so far...

Grade: A+

Three Huge October Albums

With October comes the first full month of fall. But it seems almost foolish to think of it as such, due to the more than noteworthy releases October will see. Flying Lotus, Kendrick Lamar, and Converge all have albums set to be released. On second thought, October may see the three best albums of the year, if any of these artists' prior releases are taken into account.

Flying Lotus - Until the Quiet Comes
October 2nd

If Cosmogramma has taught us anything, it's that each Flying Lotus release feels like a new artist; the guy never stops evolving his sound. From the hazy beats on 1983 to the nu-jazz sounds on Cosmogramam, Steve Ellison has crafted his own signature niché in electronic music, but always reinvents his sound throughout his discography. FlyLo recently released a video teaser featuring some of the material on Until the Quiet Comes. The video was shot on film by Kahil Joseph and is just as abstract and beautiful as the music featured on it. I can't see myself disappointed with this release, even if it finds Ellison staying on the same path found on Cosmogramma. You can preorder the record at Warp, and don't forget to check out the short film below.

Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid, Mad City

October 22nd

In order for TDE to continue its dominance over underground hip-hop, Kendrick Lamar's proper debut album will need to be the keystone. ScHoolboy Q's Habits & Contradictions was a well thought out and executed first release from the TDE group, just after signing with Aftermath. Control System provided the weirder aspects of the Black Hippy collective, as Ab-Soul is oft found to do so. Lamar has been compared heavily to A Tribe Called Quest's Q-Tip, and with good reason - the two rappers have a similar pitch and delivery, while focusing their raps more on progressive issues than opulence. Single "Swimming Pools (Drank)" offers the most interesting point of view of drinking I have heard in music, let alone rap or hip-hop. I was a huge fan of Section.80, listing it as my favorite mixtape of last year. And with all the rumored features on Good Kid, Mad City, it's hard to imagine a failure.

Converge - All We Love We Leave Behind
October 9th

Coming as the biggest surprise to me, Boston metalcore outfit Converge announced All We Love We Leave Behind in late August. Converge hasn't released anything since 2009's excellent Axe to Fall, and it's comforting to see just how the band is approaching this release - they are doing everything themselves, without any guests or help. Guitarist Kurt Ballou is handeling the recording, artwork, and by way of his own label, Deathwish Inc., releasing the vinyl record. There aren't any special effects or extra instrumentation on the record, just how the band performs live. "Aimless Arrow", the album's first single, is a mathy, brutal kick to the teeth. Flatted Third's own Gerry D'Apollo broke the news on this release to me and you can check that out here, along with the video for "Aimless Arrow".