Masters Of Their Craft
There had been little rumblings here and there with regards to the future of Converge before this record was announced. The more negative amongst us thought that we'd potentially witnessed their final act as members of the band continue to be hugely successful away from Converge, but there was always that feeling that a new record could be on the horizon at some point. Huge anniversary shows for the ultimate classic in their back catalogue, Jane Doe, displayed that the fire was still very much raging and now five years on from their last record we've got a potential album of the year in The Dusk In Us - standard level for them then.
When you meet Jacob Bannon or watch him in interviews his demeanour is strikingly calm considering he can pull tracks like A Single Tear out of his noggin to open a record. The eclectic and eccentric nature of his vocals are so immediately striking on Converge records it puts him right there alongside Greg Puciato in our books. You can almost picture him writhing around in the vocal booth, spitting through his lyrics with a ridiculous level of fervour. If there's one thing that is key in marking a truly great vocalist it is the level at which the listener can truly believe in them. You really fucking believe in what Bannon delivers, and on this record it is no different.
Moving away from the vocals, the rest of the band are at their frenetic best throughout as they provide an absolute masterclass in less than subtle savagery intersecting between Thrash fuelled Punk and riffs heavy enough to make the Grand Canyon cave in on itself. Absolute MVP award goes to drummer Ben Koller though. He isn't sitting there in the back helping things along, that dude is crashing his was to the forefront and taking whoever the fuck gets in his way - truly blistering performance. Another key highlight on the record is the title track which sees the band veering off in a slightly different direction to the content on most of the rest of the album. It's dark, brooding and sinister nature invades your senses for about seven minutes, going from a strong atmospheric feel to shattering levels of heavy in a heartbeat.
Fact is, special things happen when Bannon, Ballou, Koller and Newton are in a room together. In an age where the likes of Code Orange and Employed To Serve are threatening to take over the heavy music world by storm, some of the old hands are having to make sure they're at the very top of their game to keep up - Converge have no concerns here. We've said it once and we'll say it again, these are masters of their craft.