Converge – All We Love We Leave Behind (Ltd Ed) (yellow)

Converge – All We Love We Leave Behind (Ltd Ed) (yellow vinyl)

The record is the logical followup to 2009's Axe to Fall, my favorite record that year. Axeincluded a large supporting cast of friends and fellow travelers from Cave In, Disfear, Genghis Tron, the Red Chord, and Neurosis. It ended with a seven-minute song that seemed to include them all. When I spoke with Converge frontman Jacob Bannon a few weeks ago about AWLWLB, he said Axe to Fall had been the "collaborative concept taken to the extreme." This time, it's just the band and the watchful ear of Ballou. As Bannon put it, "There's no artificial distortion, triggers, or Auto-Tune on this album. It's all organic, it's real sounds that capture the way the band performs live."

From opener (and first single) "Aimless Arrow" onward, the music here is mostly fast, compact, and coiled. That's Converge in general, but they've distilled the elements to even tauter extremes this time. The technical mastery is mind-blowing, as is the way they manage to squeeze in brutal melodies and hooks. The vocal lines seem to be woven into the guitars, to which they've also added a bluesier feel, a detail that reminds me of the classic post-Negative Approach Touch and Go band Laughing Hyenas-- or even the Jesus Lizard. It's a streamlined, live-sounding collection that can feel like one giant kick to the head. But they know when to give, take, and plop in a slow-grind blues riff. Tracks overlap and echo. When they slow things down to a momentary crawl with the album's longest song, the five-minute doom ballad "Coral Blue", it's like a chair's been pulled out from behind you. You get that in the middle of the two-minute "Empty on the Inside" as well as the instrumental "Precipice", an interstitial piece with piano, clean guitars, psychedelic soloing guitars, and deep-factory/chain-gang percussion. "All We Love We Leave Behind" picks all of that up gorgeously.

Label: Deathwish Inc. ‎– DW139

Format: 2 × Vinyl, 12", Album, 45 RPM, Limited Edition, Yellow Translucent 

Country: US

Released: 2012

Genre: Rock

Style: Hardcore

Notes:

YELLOW VINYL Limited to 1000 copies exclusive  the Converge webstore, Kings Road Merch. 

The 2xLP contains the deluxe tracklisting of 17 songs, is pressed on yellow translucent vinyl, housed in a gatefold sleeve and including a 10" lyric sheet with all texts. 

Including download card of the entire album

Price: SGD 85

In stock