Artist: Converge
Label: Equal Vision Records
Release Date: 9/4/01
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Title: Jane Doe Artist: Converge Label: Equal Vision Records Release Date: 9/4/01 |
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Abyss's Review:
List this one under the genre of “genreless” as the new Converge album is part metal, part hardcore, and quite experimental. If I had to try and make sense of the sound (and since this is a critique, that’s exactly what I’m going to do.), I’d ask you to envision some of the recent experimental grind bands that are all around as of late. Bands like Dillinger Escape Plan, Cephalic Carnage, and Circle of Dead Children. Got those in mind? Good. Now take away the blistering speed, and that’s a vague description of what we’ve got here.
" I’ve decided I’ll never really dig this one, but I think it’s an effort that many of you will find worth the chance." That’s not to say that this album isn’t heavy. The screaming vocals and meanderings into blastbeats assure that it can be enjoyed by the average brutality freak, but the somber moments interspersed with fuzzy guitars and eclectic rhythms make this album much more than pure metal. I’m a little at a loss for words regarding this album due to the fact that, while it is full of the dynamics and rhythm changes I dig, I don’t really like the album. On paper it looks awesome, and as a critic I can pull out example after example that I respect, but unfortunately, I just don’t like listening to it. Converge use engineer Matt Ellard, who has worked with alternative acts Weezer and Dave Navarro, but the result is far from the commercial sound that most often results when more mainstream producers drift into our neck of the woods, so no worries there.
And I guess that’s about it. I’ve listened to this album over and over, hoping it would begin to grow on me, but it just ain’t happening. I know I’ve scored this one a little low, but that’s not to say that I may not be the only one not getting it (Holy double negatives, Batman!). I’ve decided I’ll never really dig this one, but I think it’s an effort that many of you will find worth the chance.
Death's Review:
Extreme thrashcore? Slayer meets Dillinger Escape Plan meets the Misfits meets Motorhead? Kreator meets Diecast meets the Melvins meets Hypocrisy? Hmmm. Who knows what the fuck Converge are? How's this for an attempt: Converge are extreme and technical in a Jersey neo-metalcore fashion and yet seem to still convey a raw, early-eighties thrash vibe at the same time with more than a hint of 80's punk-indie-pop. The music certainly is chaotic. The drums are often killer, as in "The Broken Vow". While the album is a touch underproduced and the focus tends to drift at times amidst the chaos, the aggression is clear and the inherent metallic riffing apparent throughout. Raw yet confident and extreme tracks like "Homewrecker" "kick ass" (is that a cowbell) in a down and dirty extreme-rock kind of way. The occasional indie-pop leanings though, like the beginning of "Distance and Meaning," totally detract from the experience for me, as does the track's thin guitar sound. It is noisy, underground and extreme, but it is boring and whiny sounding (think Beastie Boys meet RATM, only weaker and more nasally) when the vocal is anything but a flat-out scream. Because of the inclusion of this type of element in the Converge sound, I am not solidly in the Converge camp despite their new album's many charms.
"It is noisy, underground and extreme, but it is boring and whiny sounding when the vocal is anything but a flat-out scream."
So who are Converge making music for? Definitely for the modern extreme hardcore/metalcore crowd. Those who like interesting and complex music channeled through an over-abundance of aggression. Frankly, I'm not sure if I can understand it. Much of the time, it sounds kinda annoying. Other times, like on the opener, "Concubine," the bass-heavy, Primus meets Nothingface-era VoiVod-esque verse to "Hell to Pay" and the very cool, thrashy and metal "Fault and Fracture," Converge are pretty fucking cool. The truth lies somewhere in the middle. Let me not confuse you, at the end of the day, Converge play thrash influenced hardcore, or hardcore influenced death/thrash. I'm not sure which. Those of you who like this sort of thing best will surely be intrigued. I can find merit but am not completely sold.
"I can find merit but am not completely sold."
Hel's Review:
Favorite tracks: "Jane Doe" and "Thaw"As I listened to Converge, I could not help but come up with what I think is a suitable motto for them: too much distortion is never enough. Not only are the guitars heavily distorted, the screaming vocals are also screaming-ly distorted. There is so much distortion utilized, the record has a fuzzy overtone usually reserved for extra down-tuned sludgy stoner rock.
"Converge strive to set new levels of unlistenablility for extreme metal. Hooray for Converge!." Converge strive to set new levels of unlistenablility for extreme metal. Hooray for Converge! The music is complicated, disjointed, and experimental, frequently starting and stopping, seemingly at random, but in an unmistakably coherent fashion. This is AP metal, my friends, beginners need not apply.
The intense musical skill required to perform the seemingly sporadic changes is impressive, and the band pulls it off with an ease which belies the inherent complexity involved. This is not the kind of album you can listen to casually, since it takes nearly as much concentration to understand it fully as it would to actually play the music, but the effort is certainly worth it.
Above all, this is the kind of record to which your parents, assuming they are still a factor in your life, will invariably say, "turn that noise off!" And your reaction, invariably, will be to turn it up. And as well you should.
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