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+

Catch Up: 5 Albums You May Have Missed from 2012

It's nearly impossible to listen to everything noteworthy that comes out in a given year. Hell, I often find bands I love after they have broken up or a member died. What you should never do is catalogue a year, then forget about it. There's no shame in buying a DeLorean, going back a year, and finding an album you love - well, maybe there's some shame in all that 80's tail that'll be heading your way, aged and still dreaming to be the girl in the White Snake video. So here are some of the year's best music that, may not have been missed by all sites, but didn't get the proper coverage they deserved.

Joyce Manor - Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired 

Now, for most people I know, they are already well aware of this record - I have had it in heavy rotation in my car, and all of my other friends' cars who let me DJ. It's Long Island Pop-Punk, but the same way Brand New was Long Island Emo with Screams (L.I.E.S.); it's intelligent, original, and moving. There's even a cover of "Video Killed the Radio Star" that doesn't make you want to rip your hair out! It seems Absolute Punk was right...wait, what? Well, their community still sucks, giving the record a mere 72/100. The production is decidedly less lo-fi from the band's previous release, which really helps bring out all the subtle inflections that make this release so exciting and fresh. 

Joey Bada$$ - 1999

The album sounds like the title suggests: a return to the golden years of hip-hop. Featuring boom-bap beats, guest spots from the larger Progressive Era crew, and Joey's time tested - not necessarily by him - flow and style. 1999 feels comfortable all throughout. It's hard to believe he's only 17. With beats ranging from J Dilla, MF Doom, and Statik Selektah, this is a noteworthy mixtape, in a era where the lines between album and mixtape are beginning to blur more than ever. Album highlight "Survival Tactics" attracted the attention of Pitchfork and the website did a feature on the rapper. The best part is you can download the mixtape here for free. Yay, internet! 

Suis La Lune - Riala

Easily the least accesible on this list, the Swedish Screamo band crafted one of the densest listens this year thus far. The vocals aren't overly harsh, as they are washed clean with reverb, and there are moments when they wane and strengthen in emotional fatigue and vigor. What's so great about this album is that every song is flooded with excellent guitar harmonies and arrangements. At about 3:09 on "In Confidence", there is a major movement from the melancholia to an almost ecstatic feeling. The song feels extremely special, warranting multiple listens. The album shouldn't come as a surprise success to fans that have followed the band, as they have always released really solid material. I'm just kind of upset my copy of this record is the white first pressing, not the second pressings of black and clear splattered...

∆ (Alt J) - An Awesome Wave

If you were wondering how I typed a ∆, read the band's name again. Hip geometrical shapes aside, Alt-J created a sharp, technical album for 2012. The band's debut album, An Awesome Wave is exactly what I would like Maps & Atlases to sound like, if they continued the more poppy approach to mathy music like they seem to be. They even have a "Power" inspired music video for album standout "Tessellate". The vocals sound very familiar to Devendra Banhart, but the textured, swimming instrumentation and arrangements supporting the vocals is what sets the band apart. It's the perfect poppy album to pitch Math Rock to your friends! And isn't that what every fan needs?

blu - UCLA

If you consider yourself a hip-hop head, then you know who blu is. What makes this release such an under the radar one is how it was released, and now its difficulty to locate. The album randomly appeared on the mercurial rapper's Bandcamp page, boasting that it was entirely produced by underground hip-hop stalwart Madlib. Stones Throw then released a statement saying Madlib had nothing to do with the project. Despite the claim, the album does sound like it could have been produced solely by Madlib. And a single, "EZ", was released, then with Madlib's credit. All the controversy does nothing to discredit a great album from one of the underground's most consistant rappers.