Reviews list for Converge - Hum of Hurt (2026)

Love is Not Enough marked an excellent comeback for these Massachusetts metalcore masters earlier this year, but what we didn't know was, they already made another album besides that one! Hum of Hurt, released just 4 months later, shows that their flame of creativity has not been extinguished.

This album is more of a companion to the previous album instead of just B-sides. Basically like some of The Ocean's pairs of albums. Love is Not Enough is more of an aggressive throwback to their roots, while Hum of Hurt adds in the diversified sonic fury they've had since Jane Doe. Considering how this was released 25 years after their magnum opus, it's practically coming full circle!

Similarly to how the new August Burns Red album opens, "Slip the Noose" launches into a brief storm of rage. It's like this album's "Concubine"! Then "Doom in Bloom" slows things down, sounding crushing and unforgiving. Now, "It Only Gets Worse"? More like it only gets better! It's just pure chaos just like in the earlier breakthrough years.

Striking me further is "Detonator" and the edge it has in the riffing of Kurt Ballou and the vocals of Jacob Bannon. Such an intense song! Maybe not even a song, but rather a war speech set to metalcore, and that's what I like about it. You may recognize this next track "I Won't Let You Go" from Cyberpunk 2077, with the band credited as Shattered Void. The lyrics of perseverance sound right in both that game's soundtrack and this album. "It’s Not Up To Us" delivers a more minimalistic approach. At least in the ethereal parts in which Bannon yells out to the heavens before more of that chaotic hellfire. Those vocals are more unpredictable, especially during the outro of pain and no hope.

The centerpiece of the album is the 6-minute epic "Dream Debris". Right from the tribal march of drummer Ben Koller and the rumbling of bassist Nate Newton, comes a spectacular slow buildup to a massive headbanging groove. Converge still have their later atmospheric side to go with their earlier math/metalcore, as that majestic gem has proven. As with the previous album's interlude, "It Used to Matter" breaks things up with melancholic strumming to get you ready for the remaining two tracks. The title track has the theme of looking back at regretful decisions made in the past. The 5-minute ending track "Nothing is Over" strikes with the last of this offering's aggression. Nothing dreamy, just triumph and chaos as you would expect from this band.

Hum of Hurt is the counterpart to Love is Not Enough that we never knew about until its announcement. It shows the band's later more adventurous side without losing any of the heavy chaos that mostly shines in the other album. They're both different yet meant to be heard back-to-back. Altogether, the band still have the strength they've had in most of their career. May that strength never wither!

Favorites: "It Only Gets Worse", "Detonator", "It’s Not Up To Us", "Dream Debris", "Nothing is Over"