Converge

The chaotic lure of You Fail Me, the new album from iconic punk-metal quartet CONVERGE, is about to blow your unsuspecting mind. Aligning with Epitaph to mark a new chapter in the band's rich history, CONVERGE -- steered from its inception by vocalist Jacob Bannon -- has been annihilating audiences in-the-know with skill and substance for thirteen years.

Boasting Bannon's unique lyrical vision, throat-ripping screams, and the meticulous, inexplicable power of his bandmates, the Boston-reared group's brute force is flat out stunning. Evidenced by "Drop Out," the track careens past with amazing speed. Replete with drum rolls so precise, Ben Koller comes off like some man/machine mutation, colliding with bassist Nate Newton's menacing rhythms and guitarist Kurt Ballou's scalding, inventive six-string.

"We feel this record is as relevant, if not more, than any other release under our belts," asserts Bannon. And based on the bone-crunching "Black Cloud" or the savage roar of "Widows," loyal worshippers in the band's CONVERGE Cult will not be disappointed.

If Ballou's dark, expressive minute-long guitar intro hints that there is continued room for change on You Fail Me, the acoustic strums of "In Her Shadow" make assurances. While the song seems oddly out of place on a CONVERGE record, it's a bold, and successful move from a pacing standpoint alone. Think about it: processing CONVERGE's new and otherwise malevolent musical creations without a breather could very well fry the gray matter of even the punk-metal scene's most devout.

Of course the volatile power of the pit-ready "Eagles" flies in the face of such simplicity, meaning longtime disciples need not worry.

Ditto for the stammering omnipotence of the title cut, which sees Bannon triumph as he confronts the source of his disappointment and rage without restraint.

Innovators in the metallic hardcore movement, CONVERGE has worked its collective ass off to become one of the biggest bands in the scene, evolving and pushing the boundaries of the sub-genre they helped define. Formed in late 1990, the group wasted little time, releasing a self-titled 7" single within six months. Self-released demo cassettes and contributions to compilations followed until the band unveiled its first album, Halo In A Haystack, in 1994. By 1996, Caring and Killing was released, leaving one critic to ask, "Have you ever been kicked in the face? Well, that is what this record does -- and it feels good."

Always prolific, CONVERGE dropped Petitioning The Empty Sky the same year and watched its rabid fan-base balloon in tandem with extensive touring. Undeniably influential to a host of new bands embracing a similar approach, subsequent albums like 1998's When Forever Comes Crashing and 2001's Jane Doe were lauded by fans and scribes alike, pushing the group to the forefront of the underground.

For those other bands watching CONVERGE's every move for inspiration, the dozen songs on the frantic, fearless, cathartic and deeply moving You Fail Me have to seem damn intimidating. Especially in the wake of the disc's sturdy, erect anthem "Hope Street," where the group -- proving itself to be fully capable of rising up to new challenges and exceeding all expectations -- pummels away with a surreal optimism never before felt in the movement.

The larger public is about to find out what the punk-metal underground has known in the last decade, CONVERGE is a magnetic, unstoppable force.