Review by UnhinderedbyTalent for Converge - You Fail Me (2004)

As I get older the lines of my listening habits appear to blur all the more easily.  I could have sworn that I had made my mind up a long time ago that Converge were not for me.  All the furore surrounding Jane Doe was completely lost on me. Largely due to Bannon's vocal style just not really convincing me that he had the power in his pipes to punch at this weight.  I don't recall much else about that record if I am honest, I find that if I pick out one element of something that I really don't like I am either dismissive of the whole or spend an eternity trying to look past the element of dissatisfaction until the whole thing clicks or I end up lamenting on losing hours of my life for no real positive outcome.

It's fair to say that I enjoy You Fail Me a lot more than I was expecting to.  The hardcore punk elements shine through really well and keep me interested when things have gone a bit sour (In Her Shadow being a particular sour point on the album for me).  As an album it has a consistency in terms of intensity that is quite alluring.  However, at the same time it has a draining aspect to it also, meaning that I am sort of grateful that it is over when the record finishes.  That is not supposed to be as negative a statement as it probably sounds, more me pointing out that the transferral of emotion from the artist to the listener here is done really well.  Converge give you something to take away and think about, hold in your hands, flip over a few times and remember its ugly yet enticing content.

Still there's moments were Bannon gets on my tits still but his bandmates rescue him on most occasions.  I mean Ben Koller is simply fantastic with his explosive style and is definitely the standout performance here for me.  Ballou's riffing has the standard metalcore/mathcore elements present but I also like the odd groovy riff that comes into play every now and again.  I don't hear a lot of bass on most tracks (maybe this is why they remixed the album and re-released it?).  I mean, I know it is there most definitely but it does seem to struggle for presence on most tracks.

So, I have added this into my stream which is not something that I would ever thought a possibility in all honesty.  The fact is though that this album packs a real punch and the bruising does not fade very quickly at all.