Style: Punk, metalcore, grind, noise, dissonance, hardcore punk
Primary Emotions/Themes: Chaos, personal struggles
Thoughts: Axe to Fall was my initial dropping off point for Converge. I loved Jane Doe, You Fail Me, and No Heroes - but after that I felt content and didn't need more.
Years later I decided to give the album a proper listen, and this is a definite shift for the band. The band is no longer focused on chaos and dissonance as the primary focus of the music. Instead, the first half of the album sounds downright fun in comparison.
Dark Horse has a playful d-beat backing that I haven't heard from the band prior. The riffs are melodic (at least by Converge standards) and are even catchy at points. Reap What You Sow continues the playful mood with quirky riffs and creative drumming - again the song can get stuck in my head. It's quite odd considering what band is writing these songs.
As the album continues the playfulness begins to fade and the album takes a more serious turn. By the time Damages comes on the album is still not as chaotic or dissonant as I would expect from the band, but darkness and self doubt have replaced the playfulness of the early tracks.
The album makes a third and final shift on the final two songs. Steve Von Till of Neurosis does guest vocals on Cruel Bloom. His deep croon gives the song a profound sense of loss, and the music reflects this intimately. This sounds like a slower Neurosis song than anything Converge have written in the past, and its fantastic.
The band finishes out the album with Wretched World. Converge have had a history of putting at least one long song on their albums, and this is that for Axe to Fall. The sense of loss and sorrow that came from Cruel Bloom is continued here. The band fully embraces doom metal and post rock for much of the track as it builds into an explosive climax to end the album. Jacob uses his clean vocals to excellent effect here, once again proving that he is one of the best out there. Possibly the best song on the album, and an epic way to close it out.
Axe to Fall is not as good as the previous three albums, but it is also quite different. It sees the band exploring themes that they haven't covered before. Despite all the collaborations the album is undoubtedly a Converge album - their DNA is written into every song. It's not going to get spun as much as the other albums, but this will still get it's fair share on the table.
Written December 5th 2023
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