I bought a T-shirt from Jacob Bannon himself (at least, I thought so at the time), moshed, took a spin-kick to the face, moshed with a bloody nose to "My Great Devastator", and went home reeking of cigarettes, positively vibrating with excitement. It wasn't until we were in the car that I found out that we were going to see motherfucking Converge with American Nightmare opening at some VFW hall-type venue. While we were staying with my aunt and cousins in San Diego, the older cousin suggested that we go to a show, and I was into it based solely on the fact that it would be an opportunity to smoke cigarettes and possibly get drunk. I was 17 and on a road trip up and down the west coast with my mom, dad, and sister. I've been to a bunch of their shows and they've always killed it, but nothing will ever top the first one. The last songs on each disc are my two favorites - "Pushing the Tides" is one of their best gnarled ragers yet, and "Gigantium" reimagines Torche as a cosmic force - but the whole album is as emotionally resonant as you're likely to hear from a band that I've referred to more than once as "BBQ metal."Ĭonverge changed my life. As one might expect of a double album, the prog ambitions are back in full force, but they're tempered by the taught, muscular alt rock they've been leaning into since Once More 'Round the Sun (maybe even The Hunter, I completely forget what that record sounds like), finding a majestic, emotive middle ground that makes both sides of the coin shine brighter. But I stay checking in with them, and this time around, they nailed it. Sure, I fucking loved Remission, but I wasn't ready for the clean vocals and more melodic sound they took on with Leviathan - the insane amount of hype surrounding it probably didn't help - and I never really caught up. Look, no one's more surprised to see this on here than I am.
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December 2022
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