Converge - "No Heroes"

In the years since Caring and Killing hit the scene, Converge has spawned a legion of imitators. Hell, the band themselves hasn’t done much to discourage this behavior either. Guitarist Kurt Ballou has lent his magical touch to records by bands like Great Redneck Hope, Curl Up and Die and Give Up The Ghost while lead vocalist Jacob Bannon’s Deathwish Inc label has released album’s by Breather Resist and Some Girls.

And in every small town hardcore scene, there are angry teens playing as hard, fast and recklessly as possible. They take their names from Converge songs and throw their bodies and instruments to the mercy of the music at house parties, VFW halls and laundromats – wherever they can plug in and let loose.

With this in mind, Converge releases their sixth full-length. No Heroes is the follow-up to 2004’s You Fail Me and their second record with legendary Epitaph Records. While You Fail Me saw Converge at their most experimental (and was thus lauded with criticism and shunned by the scene police), No Heroes finds the band narrowing their sights and taking aim on the imitators and haters everywhere.

I’ll say it now, so read no further if you disagree – No Heroes is the best Converge album to-date. Hands down, bar-none, without a doubt – THE BEST.

“Heartache” introduces us to No Heroes with thick and doomy minor chords that abruptly give way to Converge’s signatures thrashy punk sound. “Hellbound” has an old school Minor Threat/Black Flag brand of hardcore thing going on – wailing guitars and driving bass – while “Vengeance” is :58 of pure, unchecked aggression.

By track five, the blood-and-thundered “Weight of the World,” Converge is ready for a break it seems, slowing things down to the dirge tempo that littered You Fail Me. Not for long though, as the standout title track brings things back to speed.

The mid-album trilogy of “No Heroes,” “Plagues” and “Grim Heart / Black Rose” is the most satisfying section of music No Heroes. Taken as one whole piece of music, this may be the best stuff to come from Converge or any other band in the hardcore, punk, or metal scene in years. “Plagues” and “Grim Heart” see the band returning to the gloomy, jamming style they experimented with so successfully on You Fail Me. For real – this is the sound a post-apocalyptic jam band would produce.

Bannon does his best singing yet on “Grim Heart.” And while hearing the bleeding throated Bannon produce some heartfelt crooning may cause When Forever Comes Crashing- fans to cringe, they should really get over it. “Grim Heart,” like the rest of No Heroes, represents a band coming into it’s own, defining and refining itself and its sound, perfecting something that was first attempted in juvenile fashion on earlier albums. No Heroes is the product of a band with over ten years of experience under their belt – a mature production from a maturing band, perhaps the most influential hardcore band since Minor Threat. Coverge completely redefined this music.

“Lonewolves” is just waiting to be sung back in the face of Bannon by devotees everywhere – so learn the words kids, for you will be tested. “To The Lions” take the best of everything that surely influenced Converge when they were young and brings it up to speed – thrash metal punk extremism that is ready to fuck your face then kiss you goodnight.

And maybe it’s not the best way to judge an album, but in the case of Converge it just may be: No Heroes sees Converge returning to the no-frills world of the minute long song. When short and sweet ditties like these are juxtaposed with the 9:00+ “Grim Heart,” you get an album that just makes sense, an album that can be listened to from start to finish without interruption (such a hard task these days) because Converge took the time to construct an album, complete with highs and lows, push and pull.

Released so late in the year, it’s easy to want to toss out all those “Best of 2006” lists and place No Heroes firmly in the top five. Perhaps it is a top-fiver. Or maybe this grim and grey-skied album just feels right, right now, with the seasons changing and the rain never-ending. Converge’s No Heroes is the soundtrack to your Fall.