Axe to Fall – Converge

Why I Chose It

Jane Doe is a landmark album, and I wanted to give Converge's new stuff a spin.

Live Blog

Dark Horse - Great bass intro. The guitar riff is really cool sounding. The vocals at the chorus are really cool. Jacob seems to have a different scream than he had in Jane Doe. Or, at least he uses a different one more. The breakdown is really cool. The drumming is tight and fast.

Reap What You Sow - The intro guitar is cool. I can hear the vocals, but they're incoherent. They're pretty cool I suppose. I like guitar solo and the drumming during the solo is awesome. I'm appreciating this riff more. 

Axe to Fall - This comes out of nowhere. Just Jacob's scream, blasting onto the scene. And the instrumentals accompany the chaos. The song breaks down, like the axe falling on our heads.

Effigy - Another track that just came out of nowhere. Short and very intense, though not as big of a sound. The gang vocals in front of the solo are pretty cool. Then the riff after is also very neat. 

Worms Will Feed / Rats Will Feast - Finally, a break in the action. High gain guitars slowly open up this song. Screams carry this slow burner of a song. These lyrics are just hatred. They're about a person who is poisonous to everyone. I like the weird breakdown in the song. It almost sounds like an acoustic guitar, but with a slight twinge.

Wishing Well - The guitar wailing is pretty cool in the beginning. And the guitar riff at the beginning is pretty sweet. I like the lyrics in this one. It has that "we're gonna get you" tone to it. "We are the echoes in the well".

Damages - All of a sudden, a clean guitar palm muted starts this song. Then it builds perfectly into something sinister sounding, but then sorta disappoints. But it stays built up and just palm mutes its way through lyrics about something destroying the town this guy is in. Or something.

Losing Battle - Again, rolls right out the bat with a really good drum opening. It sounds like your going fast downhill. The guitar riff picks up early on and is really cool. More lyrics about things getting destroyed and him fighting valiantly. For what? To who?

Dead Beat - More fast, tense drumming. The guitars are slower here. Jacob has some different vocals in the beginning before it launches back into the bullet train that is Converge: driving guitars, fast drumming and screams. There's a nice call and response section with vocals and guitars. Lyrics are about a person who wounds people in his life

Cutter - The CD doesn't stop, just launches in again. There's a guitar stop and start at about :15 and :31. Really intense guitar chugging at 1:27. "No way out!"

Slave Driver - like the guitars at :46 and onward. The bass line during the breakdown is pretty sick too. I think the lyrics are about someone growing out of somewhere oppressive. Somewhere where he doesn't belong anymore. He also seems to be leaving early, when he's not ready. Or after he's had a long struggle before he leaves.

Cruel Bloom - Piano and acoustic guitars start this song. It sounds western. Almost even like Murder by Death. It feels like a song that would be played when walking across the desert. I think its about people growing up into people they don't want to be. They are cruelly matured. It picks up at 3:00

Wretched World - The 7:00 ender. Starts out pretty slow. A sad, slow song. The singing sounds like lamenting. The theme of the album is inevitable death, so I think this is the end of the line for this person. He is cursing the horrible place where he exists. He resigns, as the guitars and the drums fade out. "Shattered Art as time won't turn"

Write Up

Wow. Just, this album is a roller coaster. If a roller coaster started off at 100mph and didn't slow down until right at the end. Jane Doe was an intense ride, but it had a pretty wide variety of sounds. This one doesn't really take prisoners, save for the song "Worms Will Feed / Rats Will Feast ". Jacob Bannan and crew construct a sonic assualt that doesn't leave a lot of room for breathing. The guitars play very well off each other, harmonizing in very cool and effective ways throughout the CD. The drumming is amazing. It's fast, tight and emphasizes perfect parts of the song. 

What I did not expect is how easy Jacob's lyrics are to interpret. I mean, maybe it's all just a feeling that I have. Maybe how I interpreted them is wrong. But having an over arching theme of the album helps a lot in the regard. Overall, this CD is great. I'm glad I listened

Would I Listen Again?

Yes!