What Are You Listening To Now - The Revolution Edition
Converge - "All We Love We Leave Behind" (2012)
Sometimes you can stumble over a release that shows you in no uncertain terms just how much your taste can change over time & how your current mindset & environment can influence your opinions. Converge's eighth album is fine example of that for me. When I first gave it a few spins around the time of release I found that I quite liked it but wouldn't have suggested that it was anything all that special however after this week's revisit I think it might just be my favourite Converge release. I can't believe how much energy & virtuosity this band maintains throughout the entire tracklisting & their sludgier moments are nothing short of crushing. I've never been a fan of front man Jacob Bannon's vocals but this might just be the record to turn that opinion around as he's got a lot more intelligibility & power here. And then there's drummer Ben Koller who is utterly mind-blowing & has been one of my favourite musicians for many years now, only this time he's reached another level altogether. Unlike some of the band's earlier classics though, "All You Love You Leave Behind" never sees Converge needing to extend themselves into mathcore territory for too long because they're far too efficient at their craft for that now & have ultimately transcended the requirement. This is rabid, classy, monstrous metal-infused hardcore based on controlled chaos & intelligent violence. Amazing!
4.5/5
Gulch - Impenetrable Cerebral Fortress
This short and sweet 15 minute metal-grind-core...thing...was interesting to me, since it has a ton of Grind qualities presented in a Metalcore fashion. Even though it's a bit too short-winded for me, there are some chunky riffs and impressive vocals in this one, pretty exciting stuff for the more hardcore Metalcore scene. Honestly I'd like to see what Daniel thinks of this one as he's the resident Grind-head, if The Horde monthly features are any indication.
Challenge accepted! I'll investigate this release over the next couple days & report back.
OK, so I gave "Impenetrable Cerebral Fortress" a few solid spins this morning & I have to say that I was really impressed. Gulch are a band that are right at the peak of their powers from both a technical & creative point of view & I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It's interesting that there's a heated debate going on at RYM around the primary & secondary subgenres employed on this release. To my ears it's a shared metalcore & hardcore punk primary with a grindcore secondary. The hardcore element is stronger than the metal one most of the time but those hints at grindcore represent some of the most exciting parts & I'm a little disappointed that they haven't expanded on them further to be honest. Perhaps that's half the attraction though as Gulch never sit still for very long & seem to be racing against the clock to chuck all of their ideas into the shortest space of time possible. It's hard to understand how no one has nominated grindcore as a secondary on RYM though as it's really pretty obvious. In fact, I'm just as surprised to see death metal & deathcore being tossed around by most people because I can hear very little of that.
Thanks a lot for the tip-off Xephyr. Andi, you need to get on this one.
4/5
No problem, Daniel! I shall review that Gulch album, plus that After the Burial album Rareform because I'm a fan of a couple of those bands you mentioned:
Djent-fueled Minneapolis deathcore for fans of Veil Of Maya, Within The Ruins & Rings Of Saturn.
Rolo Tomassi - Time Will Die and Love Will Bury It
British Post-Hardcore/Mathcore outlet Rolo Tomassi's fine 2018 album that I discovered late in the year and really impressed with its melodic flare, songwriting and clean production. I'm surprised it hasn't been heard by more Metal Academics. FFO: The Dusk In Us by Converge
9/10
https://rolotomassi.bandcamp.com/album/time-will-die-and-love-will-bury-it
Svalbard - When I Die, Will I Get Better?
I will post in The North clan as well, but this English Hardcore group is pulling out all of the stops bringing in elements of Black and Post-Metal into a one of a kind experience that I never knew that I needed! FFO: Rolo Tomassi, Astronoid & Harakari for the Sky
9/10
https://svalbard.bandcamp.com/album/when-i-die-will-i-get-better-2
Converge - "Axe To Fall" (2009)
I dunno why it's taken me so long to get around to checking out Massachusetts metalcore legends Converge's 2009 seventh album "Axe To Fall" as they've been a pretty big band for me for a long time now & never leave me disappointed. There's no exception being made here either as we see the band presenting us with their most ambitious offering to the time & collaborating with a number of mutually-respected musicians to great effect. The album really sounds very fluent & well-defined despite covering a fair amount of musical territory & I particularly enjoy the contribution from Neurosis' Steve Von Till given my strong affiliations with the post-metal masters.
Converge's classic metallic hardcore sound receives good coverage & is complemented by some straight-up hardcore punk tracks ("Effigy", "Losing Battle", "Dead Beat" & "Slave Driver"), a sludge metal monster ("Worms Will Feed, Rats Will Feast") & even a couple of more atmospheric & cerebral post-sludge excursions ( "Cruel Bloom" which reminds me very much of Tom Waits meets Neurosis & the epic album high point that closes out the album "Wretched World"). They've included just enough compositional complexity to keep the listener on their toes & reminded of the elite class of the artist they're indulging in without ever feeling overly showy or pretentious which is a rare quality in this form of art. The production & musicianship are unsurprisingly spectacular too, particularly my man Ben Koller behind the kit who is always the highlight for me. Front man Jacob Bannon puts in one of his best performances too which is well appreciated given that I haven't always loved his delivery. He seems to have gotten better with age with more weight behind his screaming violence.
Unlike most fans, I've never regarded Converge's early 2000's classics as their creative peak, despite the undoubted quality they offer. I've always found the band's appeal to grow stronger as they started to take alternative routes & expand on their sound with 2012's "All We Love We Leave Behind" representing a real highlight for the metalcore subgenre & my personal favourite. "Axe To Fall" very much leaves the impression of being the entrée for that main course & I subsequently rank it as my second favourite Converge release these days. It should be essential listening for all fans of more serious metalcore/hardcore.
For fans of The Chariot, Every Time I Die & Norma Jean.
4/5
P.S. The album cover is absolutely stunning too & beautifully compliments the music in my opinion.
This is how much I'm enjoying and listening to the new Trivium album, In the Court of the Dragon, along with my outside-world friends' reaction:
Totally looking forward to giving it a review once the album gets added to the site...
Knocked Loose - "A Tear In The Fabric Of Life" E.P. (2021)
21 minutes of fairly brutal Kentucky metalcore featuring abrasive vocals, djenty breakdowns & a deathcore weight to some of the riffage. I'm not a huge fan of the vocals & those breakdowns can be pretty generic at times however the production & execution are very strong & there's a genuine consistency to the blemish-free tracklisting that sees me reaching a positive outcome.
For fans of Gulch, Year Of The Knife & Sanction.
3.5/5
Of the 2 new Underoath albums since they reformed, here's what I prefer:
Almost a year after doing my track-by-track genre analysis of Trivium's The Crusade, I decided to do the same for their new album In the Court of the Dragon. Throughout the year and a half that I've been listening to this album (among many other metal albums of course), I begin to realize this is more than just a melodic metalcore album, with different diverse styles mixed with the genre that is still the main one. So before I declare Judgement Submission Day on this album, here's how I would tag the genres in the 10 tracks:
1. X - orchestral intro
2. In the Court of the Dragon - melodic metalcore
3. Like a Sword Over Damocles - melodic metalcore/progressive/thrash metal
4. Feast of Fire - heavy/alternative metal
5. A Crisis of Revelation - melodic metalcore
6. The Shadow of the Abattoir - heavy/power/symphonic/melodic metalcore
7. No Way Back Just Through - melodic metalcore
8. Fall Into Your Hands - melodic metalcore/symphonic/progressive/thrash metal
9. From Dawn to Decadence - melodic metalcore/thrash metal/hard rock
10. The Phalanx - heavy/power/progressive/symphonic/melodic metalcore
So based on what I've analyzed, In the Court of the Dragon is still primarily just a melodic metalcore album with only one full song not being part of the genre, "Feast of Fire". However, there are many secondary influences appearing here, each in 3 tracks, so here's how I would list the genres for this album here:
Primary: melodic metalcore
Secondary: progressive metal, thrash metal, heavy metal, symphonic metal
So I won't have to make any judgement submissions for this album, but a few RYM genre votes from me await!
Exactly one year ago, August 28, 2022, I discovered this glorious band when my brother was blasting this EP (among other songs) in a not-so-ordinary family car ride. As I give this epic extreme release another listen on the one-year anniversary of that historical event, I'd like to once again thank my brother for this incredible discovery:
I heard my first two Atreyu albums today: Lead Sails paper Anchor, and Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses. Meh.
Converge - When Forever Comes Crashing (1998)
My only previous experience of Converge is their 2021 collaboration with Chelsea Wolfe, Bloodmoon: I, an album I enjoyed very much. As you all know by now, I am not much of a fan of metalcore and, in all honesty, When Forever Comes Crashing has done very little to change that. There were times, especially when the band would drop into a groovy, chugging riff, that I was thinking "OK, now here we go", but soon the ascerbic dissonance reasserts itself and the album loses me again. I understand that Converge are a big deal in the metalcore scene and especially, considering the early release date, that they were a seminal band in the development of that genre, but they also manifest those aspects of the genre that are the basis for my reticence towards it, which is the seemingly spasmodic guitar work, screamy vocals and general aura of chaotic dissonance. Ultimately I respect what the band were doing and they do sound proficient but, unfortunately, the genre they were pioneering does very little for me and when they do appeal, it is when they drop into those chugging riffs they occasionally unleash. This is a release that ultimately I can respect, but not enjoy that much.
3/5
Avenged Sevenfold: Sounding the Seventh Trumpet
Genres: Melodic Metalcore
I've been putting off these guys for forever and I don't know why. Maybe it's because I'm not really into alternative metal or related genres like multiple. Now I've always liked Bat Country ever since I heard it on SSX On Tour for Gamecube, and it was one of many songs I kept on the custom playlist with classics like Stand Up and Shout by Dio, Dynamite by Scorpions and Run to the Hills by Iron Maiden. There were others, but I quickly associated myself with the song.
I understand that the band is a very flavorful one, and has reinvented themselves multiple times, even after just one or two albums. As an Arctic Monkeys and Led Zeppelin fan, I have absolutely no problem with this. In fact, from what I understand, these guys are supposed to have sucked as a metalcore band, so in my curiosity I'll likely get through all of their albums soon. But despite the fact that I've put them off for far too long (Bilbo Baggins, 2001), the biggest reason I'm checking them out right now is so I can have an opinion on them. This was likely influenced not only by my recent curiosity pertaining to their other songs and the knowledge of their diverse history, but out of a Reddit conversation involving the qualifications of a metal band on Metallum. So I'm gonna check them out from the start.
The somewhat symphonic and cinematic intro is nice, but as soon as these guys dig right into the metalcore, they lose all sense of atmospheric building, and stem into a random and yet surprisingly predictable and tropy metalcore band. I really did NOT like "Turn the Other Way." Its lack of organization was so amateurish that it might as well have stemmed from a poorly-recorded black metal pre-debut album garage demo. There are only slight improvements over the next two songs, with a welcome edition of the Bad Religion-style melodic skate sound making its way into a little bit of The Art of Subconscious Illusion with the unpredictability feeling a little more organized, almost like a metalcore variant of NoMeansNo, not that they hold a candle to NoMeansNo, who are probably the greatest hardcore band on Earth. It even gets pretty creepy near the end, which I have to appreciate for a band who just named themselves Avenged Sevenfold at the time. But immediately after, the album gets samey, and the tropes just take turns with no direction other than to display the popular tropes, which means the real reason the last track worked was simply because it was a better variant of an otherwise chaotic mess all restricting itself into one genre.
It gets to the point where the piano rock song Warmness of the Soul is a breath of fresh air as opposed to a sore thumb situation because its simple and catchy sound is like a pillow in comparison to the tiring metalcore tropes. And the album practically stays that way until we get their attempt at a Stairway to Heaven of their own with it going into softer melodic territory before going back into edgy metalcore tropes. This means that the album only proves that Avenged Sevenfold had not grapsed creativity yet and tried to take an easy way into metal fame. Obviously, it didn't work out yet.
42/100
What out Rex! You don't want the band seeking revenge on you seven times, do you?
What out Rex! You don't want the band seeking revenge on you seven times, do you?
Take a look at my self-made avatar and tell me I'd ever be scared.
Anyway, round two.
Avenged Sevenfold: Waking the Fallen
Genres: Melodic Metalcore
OK, nobody liked the Avenged Sevenfold debut album, and neither did I. They say this one's pretty good for the fans, though, so I've got big hopes for this. Finally getting around to these guys, I'm eagerly awaiting the moment I get to turn on City of Evil for the first time, but I don't want to do that until I get a really good idea of how the band evolved within the first three albums.
Like the first album, this starts out with a decent intro which gets up right into the darker vibes the band is going for. Unholy Confessions felt dull, under-produced and dreary in its tropes. It pains me that it became a music video. But I found that Chapter Four was much more packed, keeping a consistent melodic vibe with its overlapping vocals and slight Gothic touch, and even had a lead riff vaguely reminiscent of the energy of my favorite franchise to compare metal songs to: F-Zero. There's definitely a poppier thing going on here, but that's an improvement from the chaos of the debut album. This definitely deserved to be the lead single for this album. Remenissions starts out with the unspoken combo that I call "powercore," a genre I would totally kickstart if I were in a metal band. Unfortunately, this is where it becomes clear that the band is steering too close to the "similar tempos" trope that many genres fall victim to. I wasn't expecting the Latin acoustic segment, though. Weirdly added, but somehow nice. Desecration Through Reverence shows a bit more focus on mood-building and justifies the existence of the shifting tropes in a single song in the follow-up to their debut. It feels so much more natural than everything the debut features.
I didn't expect many differences out of Side B, but I was hoping. Turns out, my hopes were satisfied even for a little while. As soon as this slower, alternative metalcore album with a deeper emotional vibe ends, the album steers RIGHT INTO POWER METAL like it was nothing. This side ends with a basic combination of the temp tricks of the last two songs, and I can't really say this decision does anything for the album. Despite the progressive nature and melodic prowess, it's a filler song. Radiant Eclipse is slower, more alternative and rooted in traditional metal ballad behavior while maintaining the signature edge. This six minute track really was a breath of fresh air that, unlike the pop rock track in the debut, Warmness of the Soul, which felt like a relief of fresh air from the crappy metalcore, is a perfectly fitting alternative song that completely continues the darker vibes of the album while building on previously established influences on this album to become its own thing. Next was I Won't See You Tonight, Pt. 1. One look at the length and I thought to myself, "What kind of song on a metalcore album like this lasts nine minutes!?" My first thought was a fairly proggy ballad which probably builds on the gothic elements suggested by the secondary genre tag on this album's RYM page. It gained a very slight heaviness from its standard ballad energy at the start, but it lasts that way throughout the whole nine minutes, so I only got about two thirds of it right. It's really just an overlong ballad.
So now that that was over with, right back into the screechy metalcore like it's not a jarring difference. This is Part 2. They could've at least built into the conflict rather than making it instantaneous. And of course, this song goes right into djenty weirdness to add another trope to the mix... although, this is the first song in this overlong album to do so, so I'm not too bothered by the trope. Ironically, Clairvoyant Disease goes right back into alternative ballad territory, once again creating a jarring effect on the flow. And finally, there's And All Things will End, which starts off with a riff similar to many Iced Earth songs, vaguely reminiscing thrash and power, but feeling right for the album here. It's got much of the same drama as well, but the melodies are only decent and it doesn't hold a candle to any Iced Earth classics.
OK, I'm not gonna call this one of my favorite metalcore albums, but I'd say this album made AVS an easy band to LIKE, as opposed to an easy band to LOVE. Their songs are poppy enough, maybe too poppy for metalcore and never displaying high points of creativity, but they try as much as they can with the genre they chose for themselves at the time and managed to keep things fairly entertaining with some sense of variety and a much better sense of emotion.
66/100
I generally don't do reviews for re-recording albums that each just re-record an entire album, for the same reason that I don't review demo releases consisting exclusively of songs from a band's debut album; they're the EXACT SAME SONGS. With that said, I feel like sharing my thoughts about the two new Eighteen Visions re-recording albums. The band celebrated the 20th anniversaries of Vanity and Obsession with a full revisit, and they're actually each a half-star better than the originals! One reason for that is, the re-recordings are much heavier, never straying from the heaviness of the band since reforming, even having the guitar tuned down from drop B to drop A. Not only that, those awful ballads from the original albums never got the re-recording treatment. Neither did the interlude "There is Always" which is just the Manchurian Candidate theme song sampled in its original form. They know how to not get in legal trouble. The re-recording of Obsession has 4 bonus tracks, two of which are unfinished demo tracks that were reworked. All in all, 18V have struck hard once again with two of their 2000s albums made heavier than before. And even though the original Obsession should be taken out of The Revolution, the re-recorded version should stay there. Now I wonder what they will do with their self-titled album in 2026....
Vanity: 4.5/5
Obsession: 3.5/5
Converge - No Heroes (2006)
I'm not well-known as having much love for metalcore, but I find Converge to be fairly listenable. So, checking out 2006's No Heroes for the first time I was optimistic going in. Luckily this exceeded my expectations and it has shot itself up to the very top of my Revolution all-time Top 10. There are some brilliant punky metal riffs coupled with a high-velocity delivery. That said, the real clincher for me in the end was the untypical " Grim Heart / Black Rose " which, with it's excellent clean vocals and progressive feel, reminds me of The Mars Volta and it's melancholic, ominous atmosphere was always going to appeal to me. The album as a whole hits pretty hard though and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, so I can definitely see me returning to this one.
4/5 (with a potential for a 4.5)
As I Lay Dying - An Ocean Between Us (2007)
OK, this is just getting fucking weird now, but this is the second album from The Revolution that has hooked me in this week. In fact, this 2007 offering from a band I had never taken any notice of previously has got me even more stoked than the Converge album I was raving about a couple of days ago. It's the riffs man, the riffs... they contain a significant thrah metal influence and are supremely satisfying, like a good gutpunch. Actually it isn't just the riffs, the lead guitar work is pretty stellar too. Oh, and the vocals are also great, which is unusual for me to say when reviewing a metalcore album as they are usually the most challenging thing about any 'core-related genre for me, but Tim Lambesis really nails the harsh aggressiveness without resorting to annoyingly excessive shoutiness, his clean vocals are also very good. This one has really come out of left field and has gone straight to my #1 Metalcore album ever. I will definitely have to look into As I Lay Dying further if this is any indication of the qulity of the band's catalogue.
I can't hear any reason why not to, so I'm gonna go with a 4.5/5.
An Ocean Between Us is another album in my awesome metalcore offering collection. Good to hear you enjoy it, Sonny! As I Lay Dying have a new album, Through Storms Ahead, coming this November. Here are a couple pre-release singles to get you geared up for the album, and with how much you enjoy the clean vocals in An Ocean Between Us (sung by ex-bassist Josh Gilbert, by the way), the clean singing by their new bassist Ryan Neff (also in Miss May I) might just be up your alley as well:
Tim Lambesis really nails the harsh aggressiveness without resorting to annoyingly excessive shoutiness, his clean vocals are also very good. T
It's a pity that he attempted to hire an undercover police officer to murder his wife a decade ago but I guess nobody's perfect.
Tim Lambesis really nails the harsh aggressiveness without resorting to annoyingly excessive shoutiness, his clean vocals are also very good. T
It's a pity that he attempted to hire an undercover police officer to murder his wife a decade ago but I guess nobody's perfect.
Wow, I did not know that. That is reprehensible. What a c@#t. I hope he did time for it.