Converge - Jane Doe (12 tracks) +Album Reviews

THIS IS A GLORIOUS MONSTROSITY.

Lord Chimp | Monkey World | 05/21/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Metal used to be the sort of thing where you would plug in your guitar, get a nice heavy sound, write good riffs, and that was pretty much it. As the years have gone by, it's impressive to see how some bands have taken the aesthetic to _this_ level.Converge is generally regarded as THE hardcore/metalcore band. I don't really know what those terms mean, but this is just a beast of an album. I've listened to so much death metal, grindcore, black metal, cyber-terminator metal, and so on, now it is rare that a band impresses with its sheer heaviness. But Converge _is_ heavy enough to bring you to your knees: massive, crushing riffs with guitar distortion that could strip flesh from bones; heart-stopping grooves of exploding shrapnel; and deliriously thick walls of sound... As a compadre recently said while we were discussing this album, "When 'Concubine' kicks in, hold on to your f_cking chair." But real heaviness is not just a sound, it also has a lot to do with how that sound is manipulated and performed. For instance, King Crimson is, in my opinion, much 'heavier' than nearly any 'metal' band. Converge is an excellent example of this theory in practice, as they pound through eclectic, wrecking ball riffs and industrial-strength rhythms at breathless velocities while vocalist Jacob Bannon's inhuman screams crackle across the scorched-earth metalcore landscape with spine-tingling ferocity. (Is that a human voice? Is he hurting himself doing that?) On the moments where he sings rather than screams, he has a sort of weird-indie voice. And part of that visceral impact Converge plasters you with comes from their gritty, rugged sound. The music is most certainly not _sloppy_ -- Converge's technique is highly refined around their frenetic, short, violent bursts, mammoth drumming, aggressive stop-starts and syncopations. But the album has a fast, dirty sound could be interpreted as "punk" were the songs not so complex, brutal, and heavy. (That's that "hardcore" factor, yo.) And just when you think you have their sound pegged, along comes the 12-minute title track of _Jane Doe_: it first trudges through clomping heaviness for a while and then - and THEN -- it finishes with an electric crescendo that would stagger Godspeed You! Black Emperor. It's one of the most powerful moments in the world of heavy music.Highest recommendation. And if you love DEP, you will love this I think."

Aggressive, eclectic brilliance

Wheelchair Assassin | The Great Concavity | 09/04/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Over the next few years, "Jane Doe" may well come to be looked upon as one of those albums that change the way people look at music. Although Converge lean more toward the hardcore side of the heavy-music equation than such bands as Meshuggah, the Dillinger Escape Plan, and Soilent Green, their essential mission is the same. Like their metal counterparts mentioned above, Converge fuse mammoth heaviness with uncharacteristic levels of intelligence and musicianship, churning out jarring song structures and mutating time signatures without abandoning the aggression at the core of their genre.On "Jane Doe," their most recent album, Converge demonstrate songwriting and instrumental chops that blow away almost anything I've heard in any genre, period. "Heaven In Her Arms" is doubtless one of the most maniacal compositions in the history of popular music, and tunes like "Concubine," "Fault And Fracture," and "Homewrecker" aren't far behind. Jacob Bannon's harsh, unintelligible shrieks may take some getting used to, but their raw power and visceral impact are undeniable. Besides, they perfectly match the music, which is nothing short of astonishing. The guitars manage to find a completely harmonious balance of math-metal heaviness and hardcore brutality, and Ben Koller's drumming is positively sick.Remarkably, when the band slows things down, it's every bit as effective as the heavy stuff. Songs like "Distance And Meaning," "Hell To Pay," and "Phoenix In Flight" substitute a doomy, genuinely creepy atmosphere and snatches of melody for the sonic carnage that's typically on display. The result is a genre-busting album that is as eclectic as it is creative. And then there's the closing title track, which is an awe-inspiring culmination of everything that's come before it. Clocking in at more than eleven minutes, it's a mountainous epic that grabs your attention from the first note and never lets go. Between Jacob's mix of tortured screams and soaring clean vocals, and the band's intricate and enthralling music, this song contains more power than most bands will be lucky to summon up in an entire career. With "Jane Doe" (both the song and the album), Converge have both stepped outside the hardcore genre and maintained a solid rooting in it, resulting in brilliant music that all open-minded listeners should be able to enjoy. Period."

The Best Metal Album I May Have Ever Heard

Sexual Jeff | Inside the Locust Reign | 09/05/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Words can not describe how amazing this band is. They are the most brutal, insane metal act I have ever heard. But they are not just tough, they are amazingly talented songwriters and lyricists. Jacob Bannon has the most death rattling scream, one capable of inducing heart failure in the elderly and possible bowel leakage in anyone of any age. Anyone who is either a fan of Hardcore metal or simply of musicians at the top of their field, you must own this album. It is the best release by Converge, which is impressive considering how good their other albums and split EPs are. Converge makes Slipknot look like trick or treaters. No major record label can ever contain this sound, and that's the way it should always be."

Amazing band, amazing record

Mateo Cartagena | jersey city, nj | 02/23/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"this thing is absolutely incredible. some of the most honest metalcore you will hear. converge meld metal, hardcore and noise in ways you have never heard before. some songs like "heaven in her arms" flat out rock, but then it goes in to the beautiful, textured, downright ethereal "phoenix in flight". thats what makes them so great...those types of dynamics. converge are easily the best hardcore/metal band out there now. they get better with every release. buy this as proof."

A high-water mark

EngineNumberNine | Ontario, Canada | 02/10/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Yes, here it is: despite their numerous other godly efforts, this truly is Converge's best record to date. The Boston quintet (as they were before guitarist Aaron Dalbec's subsequent departure) find themselves at the absolute top of their game with 2001's Jane Doe, channeling all the promising chaos of When Forever Comes Crashing into a slicker, more concentrated, and altogether much more punishing release. Even 2004's You Fail Me, a punk-rock masterpiece in its own right, looks merely respectable in comparison.

To say that newcomer Ben Koller (replacing former drummer Damon Bellorado) holds down the rhythm section would be an obvious understatement from the very first listen. Even in comparison to Bellorado's admirable work on the numerous classics between Petitioning the Empty Sky and When Forever Comes Crashing, Koller's talent easily outshines his predecessor's. Jaw-dropping performances in "Fault and Fracture," "Thaw," and most notably, "Distance and Meaning" are exemplary of Koller's outstanding ability, placing him in the running with Chris Pennie of Dillinger Escape Plan fame as one of the genre's premier percussionists.

Guitarists Kurt Ballou and the aforementioned Dalbec absolutely dazzle. The opening taps on "Concubine" foreshadow the ensuant jarring with an unsettling lull, just moments before "Fault and Fracture," perhaps Jane Doe's greatest technical gem, shreds off one of the album's quickest and most memorable riffs within its opening minute. "Thaw," for all its own fleet-fingered mastery (particularly in its latter half), is also worthy of mention in the strings department. Pushing beyond simple technicality, however, the most impressive dimension of Jane Doe's guitar work is its incredible poignancy. Aptly exemplifying this attribute is the record's catharsis: an 11-and-a-half-minute title track, during which Ballou and Dalbec laboriously churn out seven minutes of low-end, dismally-rhythmic waves before building to an absolutely stunning and texturally-gorgeous climax. With a sense of melody unheard in any of Converge's previous work, this haunting but genuinely uplifting finale combines brute heaviness with sincerity and vulnerability in a manner unparalleled by any record that I'd heard before or since.

Though admittedly, there's not much to be said for the individual distinctiveness of Nate Newton's work on bass for the bulk of the record (as, for the most part, it simply backs the walls of Ballou and Dalbec's dissonant riffage), his contribution on the anomalous, groove-laden "Hell To Pay" is certainly noteworthy. Similarly impressive is his gritty, fretboard-scaling interlude in "Heaven In Her Arms," but such standout instances as these are few for Newton. Simply put, the bass tracks here aren't flashy or prodigious in and of themselves, but serve rather to supplement the sound of the album in its entirety as one organic-sounding whole. Overall, this approach is extremely effective.

It just wouldn't be a Converge record without Jacob Bannon's incomparable presence. Combining lyrical genius with a voice unmatched anywhere else in the genre, Bannon is arguably at his most effective on Jane Doe. The trademark scream that permeated both prior full-length efforts is unquestionably at its most abrasive here, with such vocal highlights being "Homewrecker," "The Broken Vow," and "Phoenix In Flames." However, Bannon's eerie temperance on "Distance and Meaning" and "Hell To Pay" is just as powerful, and very refreshing.

Jane Doe is the veritable magnum opus of one of the most radiant talents in contemporary music. It should not be avoided at any cost."

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