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God,
how the mighty have risen! Just when you thought that
Converge records could not get any better they have
somehow managed to outdo almost every other band in the
extreme music panorama. Axe to Fall is an incredible
record; packed with a wild flurry of notes, relentless
chest pounding drums and a lightning bolt of hysterical
energy. As it commences with the song “Dark Horse” the
guitars launch in atypical hardcore fashion. Quite
frankly, the guitars sound like the NWOBHM on PCP.
Murray and Smith couldn’t have played this any faster.
Tipton and Downing? Please. Perhaps Nate Newton’s
sometimes classic metal sounding side project Doomriders
has rubbed off a little. Who knows? The fact that
still the music is inherently Converge, which says a lot about
our communal concept of what this Boston combo should sound
like. One thing is for sure, the limbs are still flying
here.
What’s most
incredible to notice is the degree to which the music of
Converge has evolved. Comparing Axe to Fall to Petitioning the
Empty Sky doesn’t even seem fair. It’s no longer an apples to
apples comparison. By now the dynamics that this quartet uses
are astounding, developed through years of congeniality. The songs
this time around are incredibly flexible and run the gamut from
the hyperkinetic four tracks that kick off the record to the
more paused but equally devastating heaviness of that we can
find towards the middle. “Worms Will Feed / Rats Will feast”
simmers in hanging notes and nascent feedback, but it naturally
evolves into the less robust “Wishing Well”.
The list of
guests in Axe to Fall is what I would describe as red carpet
worthy. Everyone from Steve Brodsky to Ulf Cederlund and Steve
Von Till makes a cameo here. Their influence on the sound is
evident in several tracks. “Cruel Bloom” is acoustic and
austere. And it makes great use of Von Till’s soothing rasp.
“Whishing Well” doesn’t sound like Entombed at all, but Cederlund’s simple Swedish chord arrangements spread the song
with awesome metal grime. Genghis Tron’s Mookie Singerman guest
stars in “Wretched World”, a guitar light melodic departure
unlike anything we can logically conceive as being
Converge-like. It’s clear, the band has taken risks. And it has
paid off. Axe to Fall is the best album of their career.
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