Customer Reviews

No Heroes

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Converge have once again put together one of the best (if not the best) hardcore/metal albums that you're likely to hear all year. As one of the premier innovators of the new school metalcore movement, it's always great to see these guys back in action and doing what they do best, which is putting out incredible music. While some may think that Converge will never be able reach the summit they did with "Jane Doe" (after all it was one of the greatest records ever written), it's important that we are able to compare Converge's output to that of their peers and the music in today's current scene. And in that department there is no one who can even match up. With "No Heroes," the band has once again taken their place at the forefront of heavy music. And that's where they belong.

Most of the chaotic numbers on "No Heroes" are fairly short and to the point to begin with. "Heartache," "Hellbound" and "Sacrifice" are the trio which leads off the disc (their combined time is less than five minutes), and this onslaught does a nice job of preparing you for exactly what your ears are in store for during this listening experience. As with all Converge records, there are slow breaking points strung throughout the disc, in order to give you a chance to catch your breathe after the constant audio assault you are hearing. "No Heroes" first breaking point comes in the form of "Weight Of The World", a driving instrumental which seems more like a bridge into the next song, the mind-numbing title track, than needless filler. After this point in the record, things begin to change a bit. Song lengths begin to increase, riffs begin to get even more technical, and Bannon's vocals become even more key to the atmosphere and shape of the music. The cornerstone of the entire album would have to be the 9 minute epic "Grimm Heart / Black Rose" which is placed right in the middle of the track order. It is songs like this which solidify Converge as the supreme heavyweight in this type of music. Very few bands are able to construct lengthy songs of this sort, and also make them interesting and engaging. Jacob's clean singing, along with Kurt's extraordinary guitar work make this the album's must-listen track. Oh and don't be distraught, because as soon as you're done with the journey of "Grimm Heart / Black Rose," you'll be plunged face first back into the bludgeoning "Orphaned."

Musically Converge are still innovators. While they haven't strayed too far from their expected style of play, I can't remember listening to a moment of this record thinking, "yea, I've heard that before." Because trust me, you haven't. Jacob Bannon's fierce, distorted vocals do all they can to pound the listener into submission, and the few moments where he slips into the "punk-rock" shout he used on the last record, or the abstract melody, you gain even more appreciation for his craft. Kurt Ballou just might be the best guitarist to come out of this whole metal/hardcore hybrid that has been growing for years now (Dave Knudson of Botch fame is the only person I can think of who would be notable competition) and the maniacal, slinging riffs that he pulls out on tracks like "Versus" and "Trophy Scars" are a further testament to his abilities. Ben Koller is nothing short of a monster on the drums, whether he's going full force and tearing his kit apart as seen on "Hellbound," "Sacrifice" and "Bare My Teeth," or just accenting the mood in numbers like the aforementioned "Trophy Scars" and "Grimm Heart / Black Rose." Nate Newton, while not at the forefront of the music, has always had an important role in the band's sound, and it's impressive enough that he's able to keep up with most of the music, let alone write great bass lines behind it (which if you listen to more experimental tracks, he does).

I'm not surprised in the least how good "No Heroes" turned out to be. I have never once been disappointed when I put in anything with Converge's name on it. While it didn't hit me with its magic during the initial spin, "No Heroes" eventually unveiled itself as the outstanding record I knew it was going to be. As you can expect with any Converge album, there's plenty of diversity, chaos, amazing drumming and riffs, tortured vocals, and intense moments to go around. If you are into Converge, you will not be disappointed with "No Heroes." This is already shaping up to be the best record of 2006. Period.

Metalcore is sort of a dirty word these days it seems; conjuring up images of Warped Tours and Hot Topic's. All the short haired emo guys are now playing brutal-tech-death metal while the dirty long haired metalhead guys are slowing it down, making all kinds of epic post rock and convoluted math rock. What gives? Converge continue to blaze their own path and break down the boundaries between hardcore and metal, while incorporating bits of noise and other weird sounds, the REAL crossover.

Converge were sort of always the hardcore black sheep, too noisy, too metal, not punk enough. Going on 15 years now, Converge have been the kings of the underground, subtly or not so subtly influencing all the metalcore outfits that have gone on to be HUGE. It's time for the world to recognize that Converge have been making some of the most progressive, and beautifully f-cked up metallic punk rock music of the last two decades.

No Heroes falls sonically somewhere between the all time metalcore milestone Jane Doe and their more recent, but equally as punishing and original You Fail Me. The pace is furious, hovering around warp speed most of the time, but these guys are masters, and amidst the cacophonous, chaotic din lurk all sorts of sonic surprises, tone of space and atmosphere, discordant, jagged, chunky, choppy riffs, incredibly complex rhythms, as well as hooks galore, all masterfully whipped into a glorious metalcore frenzy.

Highly recommended.

What can be said about Converge? Rather, what's left to be said? Since they debuted in 1994, nobody has been able to match this Massachusetts' quintet's jaw-dropping intensity, scalding energy, raw urgency, innovative songwriting, godly musicianship, and brain-scrambling technicality. So why should things be any different now? "No Heroes," their sixth record, is flat-out amazing. Although it recaptures much of the same intensity as before, it by no means tries to rehash past glories. Instead, this album takes everything that was great about the band before and simultaneously expands their dynamic range by adding...get this...texture and even a little harmony! Shocked? I know I am!

That's not to say, however, that the vast majority "No Heroes" isn't a massive, brutally devastating trainwreck. In fact, some of it might be Converge's most ferocious stuff to date. Frenetic, belligerent riffing, hammering, rapid-fire drums, rigid bass lines, and rabid, atonal screams constantly run amuck, and the listener is engulfed in wave after wave of furious, visceral aggression. Converge's musical abilities are astounding, but it's even more impressive that they never sound like a product of studio perfection -- every song here is brimming with live energy and genuine urgency.

Since it would take days to cover all of the album's meticulous details, nuances, and nooks and crannies, I'll limit myself to describing only the biggest highlights. The Crowbar-reminiscent "Heartache," which has a pounding beat, menacing feedback, and doomy, earth-shaking riffs, is a strong set opener. Later, "Sacrifice" is a very caustic number with guitar leads that grumble like a lawn mower engine, remarkably fast, driving blast beats, and piercing, hellish shrieks; "Vengeance" is propelled by streamlined, smoke-inducing buzzsaw guitars and deft, walloping drums; and the title track is an explosive, ear-splitting, take-no-prisoners onslaught with notable bass work.

"Grim Heart/Black Rose" is quite possibly the best and most infectious and memorable epic Converge have ever written. The slow acoustic strums at the beginning are ethereal, and frontman Jacob Bannon's sweet, limpid, sometimes soaring vocals are positively mindblowing. The first two-thirds of this song is gentle and restrained, with a wealth of texture, sunny melody, and unbelievable harmony, but the electric power chords storm back onto the scene around six minutes in, and they eventually erupt into a full metallic fury near the end.

After such raging slabs of chaotic dissonance as 2004's "You Fail Me" and 2001's "Jane Doe," it seemed Converge were going to be about the last band on earth to consider experimenting with semi-pleasant or agreeable sounds. But they did, and the results are stunning. And even though a math/noise/hardcore album with a touch of melody wasn't totally unheard of before now (see Dillinger Escape Plan's "Miss Machine" and Norma Jean's "Redeemer" for proof), "No Heroes" still sounds unique and novel. But then again, this is one of the smartest and most inventive and amazing bands of the last fifteen years, so we should probably never underestimate what they're capable of. "No Heroes" is an utterly brilliant, masterful, vigorous, engrossing thrill ride from start to finish. Now the question is: how in the world are they ever going to top this one?!

When I first heard that a new Converge album was soon to be released I expected it to be really good. I was wrong I should now only expect Converge albums to be simply awesome.
Previous to this record I had heard some or all of their albums and really liked everything that I heard. I had filed Converge away in my mind as one of those bands, (among many), that I would at least eventually purchase all of their albums if not all of their other material as well. When this album came out I decided that now was as good a time as any to start purchasing some Converge albums. After listening to the album several times I've come to the conclusion that these guys are simply among the elite bands in hardcore/metal/extreme music.

This album is of course full of aggression like most music of this type but this is an artistic aggression. The anger seems to be never there just for the sake of having an angry album, the anger seems to be there to propel the music and the listener to a positive place. This is very evident when reading over the lyrics which you will have to because you're not going to easily understand them even after several listens.
The musicianship is of course excellent with something to like whether you want your extreme music straight ahead hardcore or are more of a metalhead.
I'm not going to do a track by track analysis because first, I think that makes for a pretty dry review and second, this album just begs to be listened to all the way through. That's not to say that this album is perfect as there are a couple of moments where the record does stutter a bit in its flow but these are so infrequent that they almost don't deserve mention.
Finally, these guys just ooze reality there doesn't seem to be much of anything fake about them. In that regard they remind of another great band, Fugazi. So, needless to say I'm buying the rest of their albums as soon as I can and I certainly recommend that you do the same.

amazing album front to back. Jonah Jenkins from Only Living Witness, Milligram, Miltown and Raw Radar War singing the first half of "Grim Heart/Black Rose" is worth the price alone. "Orphaned" is another standout track.. sounds like Doomriders a little bit. other great songs: Heartache, No Heroes, Lonewolves... all of them.

I used to shrug when I heard Converge. "Meh."

Somehow, I bought Jane Doe and gave it a listen. Listening to that album it finally clicked... there are more technical bands and (maybe) more noisy bands, but from an artistic perspective there is no one who comes close to Converge. Converge is phenomenal. If you don't get it, well you don't get it, but when you do, you can't get enough.

Building on their last two phenomenal albums, No Heroes quickly cuts to the chase: dissonant, minor key thrashing (ala ultra distorted guitar and bass), tom fills, and Bannon's insane panther snarl (no one else sings like that) are delivered at a hyper-pace. Kurt's production is glistening... his hopped up Rickenbacker rips chords and chunky harmonics in a way that sounds more like Hendrix than a typical metal "shred". The drums are destructive and quick and the bass grinds along well.

Further into the album, the songs stretch out... a fugue-like progression of guitars on "Plagues", the actual half sung "Lonewolves" (which features a snaky guitar and tom tom hook).

A few guest vocals round out several tracks, but after 40 minutes, you actually find yourself wanting more (a problem with Converge)... this is the kind of music that holds your ears hostage.


All of these items make the band more than the sum of it's parts... like the best bands. Unlike "metal" acts, where the music doesn't really "hook" together, Converge's ungodly punk-metal actually ties everything together. You won't find silly double bass rolls over goofy shredding. This is honest and... dare I say, "soulful" music. They've been in the game so long that their style makes it's way into lots of other bands (DEP, for example).

While not as "progressive" as Jane Doe or You Fail Me, it is still good enough to rank up there with Mastodon's Blood Mountain, in terms of records this year.

Not many bands are together for 14+ years and still retain aggression and skill, like fine wine Converge only gets better.

Congratulations on another good album... now make another one!

Truthfully I need to listen to "No Heroes" a few more times before I can fully classify it, so maybe I'll edit this later, but a few things are apparent now:

1- "No Heroes" is on the level of the previous two Converge albums. I'm not sure it it'll be better or worse than them in the long run, but it's worthy of being mentioned alongside them, anyway. And, in case you didn't know, that makes it really damn good.

2- At it's most intense, "No Heroes" is the heaviest thing I've ever heard. That's intense. I can't say it's heavier than anything else ever recorded, but it *is* more intense than anything I've heard from Origin, The End, Meshuggah, Nile, Cryptopsy, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Dying Fetus, Suffocation etc. In fact, it absolutely blows most of those bands away. Bannon gives the most insane, feral performance ever, the overdriven bass roars endlessly and the guitars are like walls of steel being shorn apart, the twisted metal screaming horribly. Tons of guitars have a really thick, heavy sound, but this is unlike just about anything except "Jane Doe", where the guitars really attack your ears and it's hard to tell just were they begin and end. They expand on and on. Needless to say, those who prefer their metalcore boring and gutless and soft *coughNormaJeanRememberingNevercough* need not bother with this album, or any other Converge album, for that matter. Probably already knew that, though.

3- The production is great, best I've yet heard on a Converge album. It manages to sound pretty raw even though it's obviously not a stripped down production, but it's pretty clear at the same time. It's all a pulsating wall of sound, but you can pick through it well enough.

4- Musicianship is topnotch, as always. The drumming is especially excellent, as usual. It avoids the sorta extreme music cliches you usually hear and isn't unnecessarily flashy while still being as brute and crushing as possible.

5- Insanely heavy though it is, it's also some truly driving, memorable and often anthemic music. It's just got such energy and excitement to it, it's infectious in a way that extreme metal rarely is. The title track, "Grim Heart/ Black Rose" and "Trophy Scars" are particularly good this way.

6- Unlike many extreme metal/punk bands, Converge know how to write songs that actually sound different from one another, though when they decide to just drive ahead and rock out they do it as well as anybody and *way* better than most.

So, in short, this is another awesome album from Converge, one of the years best buy it or you suck THE END.

well, where to you begin with something like this...first off, kurt's production is just enormous and scathing. there were definite glimpes with You Fail Me, but checking out Hope Con's Death Knows Your Name truly shows his recording brilliance. utilizing atonal guitar sounds and the perfect match of studio-enhanced feedback, putting up this wall of sound. and that's important, more so in the track sequencing, this album feels like a composition - meant to be played continuous.

i recently saw converge, and towards the end of the set, bannon said he was going to play something new. but not one new song, they would be playing the first 3 songs off the album, blending together perfectly. and so, the record begins, feedback bleeding through tracks, creating the album segues , concubine/fault and fracture style. but of course, the band is anything but stagnant. the title track is surprisingly catchy, while "plagues" is just deadly , beginning with a crushing riff that would make kerry king proud.

and of course i'm sure everyone's heard about "grim heart/black rose". the first half a hooky anthemic indie song, before brilliantly dropping out, and melding into something you'd expect to hear from Explosions in the Sky, or Mogwai. they must be the Melvins of hardcore, a band totally and completely fearless of the directions they can take.

this leads to the true highlight of the record - "trophy scars". as close to the Doomriders as Converge can get, and much more. think the sister song to "last light", bannon's frentic pained yelling, giving you chills, when he's yelling "i want to live/without the guilt we give", building to that perfect wall of noise.

this is by far the cleanest, most technically proficient Converge album yet. Ballou's production, overdubs, delays, guitar effects, are mind-numbing. i'm really looking forward to him working with other bands. he's perfectly able to capture the elusive studio-produced/live energy sound. but bannon's vision, has no equal. and it truly is a vision. everything from lyrics to artwork is his. and as it stands, this is his finest work yet.

Anyone who thought Converge couldn't get any better than Jane Doe will be summarily kicked in the face by No Heroes's sheer anger and speaker-blowing force, bolstered by a tightness and skilled musicianship that somehow manages to raise their already ridiculously high standards. No Heroes's first four songs (five minutes, total) are particularly brutalizing, laying on the jabs and uppercuts until you come face-to-face with the pavement. The album's back half favors a slower, chunkier crawl peppered with all-out punk fury, but never once lets up the sonic assault, no matter the speed or the volume. And when No Heroes reaches its relentlessly dark finale, "To the Lions," it becomes all too apparent that Converge is the metalcore band of the new millennium; leaner, meaner, and more vital than their nearly 20-year career would indicate.

I guess I could be considered new to the band since I wasn't familiar with them back when "Jane Doe" came out. They had been a band that I was hearing a lot about but I didn't catch on to them until "You Fail Me". Two years came and went and when I heard that they were releasing "No Heroes" I felt compelled to pick it up. I'm so glad I went with my instincts, because for my money, this is certainly one of the best albums I bought in 2006.

Saying that Converge's music has staying power is a bit of an understatement in that each and every listen is almost a completely new experience. I've listened to it a LOT since November and I still find new stuff. Of course it's brutal and raw and the intensity is just flat out unmatched, but what keeps bringing me back (aside from said intensity) is all of the nuances and different emotions. The variety here is worth the price of admission but the way everything comes together (right down to the album artwork and packaging) is a real rarity. Needless to say, every track is awesome and demands your full attention. Not one note goes to waste.

While 2006 was a great year for metal and there were many other deserving bands getting their fair share of attention, I'm not sure if there are any others that will have the same replay value (well, maybe "Blood Mountain") as "No Heroes".

This is a five star album in every since of the word. My only question for the band would be "Where do they go from here?"