CONVERGE

At the risk of burying myself, I'm going to be upfront and admit to never being a huge follower of CONVERGE. Not that I could never get into them (nor am I ignorant to their body of work),as I remember "Jane Doe" kicking my ass for a good six months after I first picked it up, they were just never a band I pursued with great enthusiasm. Random visitations of various albums never once left a bad taste in my mouth and the more time spent with their newest release, "Axe To Fall" the more I wish I had paid better attention. Well, "better late than never", as Grandma always said, and I sit here before with a renewed curiosity for this pioneering act.

Still farming the fields of dissonance, "Axe To Fall" rips the notion of melody to shreds with thirteen pissed-off tunes that sees CONVERGE push themselves a bit beyond the parameters set by the last three albums. This could be, in part, thanks to the large amount of guest musicians that hooked up with CONVERGE this time out. Sean Martin (ex-HATEBREED, CAGE),Adam McGrath, Steve Brodsky and John-Robert Connors (CAVE IN) and George Hirsch (BLACKLISTED) are only a few of the names to appear on the credits. With only five songs not featuring co-writer and guest contributors, it's a small wonder that "Axe To Fall" comes across as cohesive as it does, but CONVERGE does manage to pull off an effort that's both exploratory and loyal to the sound the band has honed over the years.

With the first four tracks collectively clocking in at well under ten minutes, "Axe To Fall" kicks off in a rather furious manner. Like shrapnel from a crudely made pipe bomb, much of the disc's opening moments lodge themselves into your eardrums, sending chucks of flesh and streams of blood flying out in the process. A solid chuck of noisy doom in the form of "Worms Will Feed/Rats Will Feast" breaks up the melee for a bit before the punkish "Wishing Well", featuring Ulf Cederlund of DISFEAR starts up the riot again. John Pettibone (UNDERTOW, HIMSA) steps in for the hyperactive "Cutter" and Trivikrama Dasa lends guitar tracks to the eerily noisy "Damages".

Two major surprises come from the album's closers. Led by NEUROSIS' Steve Von Till, the haunting and bluesy "Cruel Bloom" sees guitarist Kurt Ballou playing the piano and glockenspiel and boasts a choir featuring Aimee Argote (DES ARK),"The Rodeo" and Chris Taylor (PIGMY LUSH) on backing vocals. Flowing seamlessly out of the aforementioned track, "Wretched World" finishes the album off in a big, dark way. At over seven minutes in length, this sprawling epic is by far the most ambitious song CONVERGE has to offer.

Again, I'm not the most knowledge source when it comes to this highly influential and long-running act, but I do know I really like what I've heard and "Axe To Fall" is no exception. Given Ballou's proficiency in the studio, the record's stellar production is no surprise and when you look back at all the lesser bands CONVERGE has laid to waste over the years, neither is the quality of the music.