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In 1994, Converge released their first full-length LP “Halo In A Haystack”. I remember regarding it as a masterpiece at the time—it was intensely complicated seeming to run through every genre of hardcore that existed at the time but putting their own unique stamp on things. For the rest of the 90’s Converge would continue on a path of musical exploration. By 2001, they emerged with “Jane Doe” an absolute monster of a recording. Since then, they’ve released an album every two years or so and trimmed the fat each time. I now look at Converge’s 1990’s output as something similiar to The Beatles “Hamburg years”, the extended period of experimentation and learning required to become masters of their craft.
With “Axe To Fall” Converge continue to show their mastery of a fast, tight and original hardcore. Where as early Converge consisted of 5 minute opus’ with endless left-turns, a contemporary Converge song is 2 minutes long with two parts. The last 15 years of songwriting have resulted in those two parts being f**king amazing. “Cruel Bloom” proves they haven’t lost that fear of genre hopping either and “Wretched World” supplies that 7-minute opus that we all still need.
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Namdev, I’m guessing you’ve seen this… pretty amazing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nkxlq8-gog&feature=player_embedded
Whoa, I hadn’t watched that, sick. I’m so glad that they’ve managed to stick it out; you always wonder what would happen if more bands could really break the 10-year mark. Or, in the case of any Hoover-related band, the 2-year mark.