ALBUM OF THE MONTH
REVI EW S Converge – All We Love We Leave Behind (Epitaph Records
“All We Love We Leave Behind” is album number eight for Converge, and one of this year’s most anticipated albums. With “All We Love We Leave Behind”, the band unleashes their particular brand of aural terrorism, while infusing it with emotion, conviction and melody. ‘Aimless Arrow’ kick-starts the album with impressive guitar noodling, frantic drumming and an emotional edge that injects the listener with adrenaline, before succumbing to Jacob
Abiotic – Symbiosis (Metal Blade )
Abiotic is an aptly named deathcore band. Their name means “devoid of life” or something that is “not derived from living organisms”, and fittingly, their brand of deathcore is bland and lifeless. The music is brutal and technical, and that is all there is to it. There is nothing else significant to take away from this record beyond such banal traits of bad quality
Bannon’s ferocious, screamed vocals and pummelling metalcore riffing. ‘Trespasses’ and ‘Tender Abuse’ continue the assault with an obvious thrash metal influence and intense double bass pedal drumming. In ‘Sadness Comes Home’ Kurt Ballou showcases his impressive guitar work combining frantic double tapping with bluesy licks.‘A Glacial Pace’ is almost an ambient track, with a spacey atmosphere and washed out vocals that weave their way around chaotic instrumentation and Bannon’s screams. ‘Vicious Muse’ begins with a catchy, punk rock inspired drum solo, while ‘Veins and Veils’ has a slinky, and slightly menacing bass intro. ‘Coral Blue’ is perhaps the most unexpected track on the album, with raspy, almost whispered vocals, and a, dare I say it, radio friendly chorus, ‘Coral Blue’ is clear demonstration of the band’s ability to craft powerful, melodic tracks that leave you with chills down your spine. ‘Precipice’ is a haunting instrumental complete with subdued guitars and a piano. ‘All We Love We Leave Behind’ is four minutes of emotional hardcore that encompasses the mood and broad spectrums of sound and emotions explored within the album. ‘Predatory Glow’ closes the album with chugging guitar riffs and plenty of opportunities to bedroom mosh, and
deathcore music. No melodies that stick in the mind and no atmosphere of any kind conjured. It just reeks of mindless savagery. Deathcore can be capable of having melodies that stick. Deathcore can also be capable of conjuring some kind of atmosphere. And guess what? Both aspects can be done with the inclusion of musical savagery! Carnifex’s Hell Chose Me has catchy melodies and a musically dark atmosphere, and Suicide Silence always has catchy melodies (too catchy in fact… their hit singles can practically be called deathcore anthems) and a musically morbid atmosphere; and both bands are as savage as starved zombies. Abiotic fail to reach this standard, and as every track goes by, you will be increasingly convinced that you are listening to audio clips of tortured animal squeals playing to a typically bad deathcore band demo’s instrumental tracks instead. The typical structure of any song goes something like this: technical riff, breakdown, technical riff, guitar solo that appears out of nowhere with no logical sense of continuity from the preceding breakdown/technical riff,
while it’s an odd way to end an album, it’s an end that will have you teeming with excitement and awaiting more. In 2001 Converge released “Jane Doe”, one of the most well regarded albums in metal/hardcore, and have since had the task of trying to outdo what many would consider their magnum opus. Expecting a new “Jane Doe” with every new Converge release is certainly an unfair viewpoint taken by many of the band’ s fans, but it is this viewpoint that has allowed Converge to expand and evolve their sound, while releasing consistently brilliant albums. With “All We Love We Leave Behind”, Converge has introduced a more post hardcore influenced sound, while building on other influences such as blues and post rock. It’s songs like ‘Coral Blue’ or ‘Sadness Comes Home’ where the band meld influences or tries something new that really make an impact on the listener. Conventionally heavy songs, such ‘Tender Abuse’ and ‘Shame in the Way’ however seem much less sincere and intense as some of the band’s previous output, and are less memorable as a result. Ultimately, the band’s experimentation with unconventional genre influences has payed off on “All We Love We Leave Behind”, creating an album that is part unique, beautiful, and abrasive. Brayden Bagnal
breakdown, technical riff, breakdown/technical riff. Now, marvel at this immense sense of musicality! The most fascinating tracks would have to be ‘Metamorphilia’ and ‘Exitus’, which are the first and eighth tracks respectively. ‘Metamorphilia’ is the instrumental introduction that starts off this album on its breakdown-spamming spree, and ‘Exitus’ is a minute-and-ahalf instrumental intermission between track number 7 and 9… I mean 2… I mean 5… I mean 6… oh damn, they all sound the same. While both tracks merely consist of series of breakdowns that lead to more series of breakdowns masquerading as “songs”, comparatively, they are the most tolerable tracks because of their lack of vocals. Abiotic’s current musical style sounds suitable for composing such filler tracks, but it is horribly unsuitable for composing the rest of the more relevant material on the album. They need to learn a thing or two from bands like Carnifex and Suicide Silence, and learn to write songs rather than technical exercises on future albums. Dane Prokofiev
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