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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
None more hardcore., 18 Nov 2006
This has been out for weeks and no-one has reviewed it? Sort it out.
As the much awaited new release from arguably the best hardcore band of all time, and the follow up to critically acclaimed 2004 masterpiece 2004 'You Fail Me', Converge's 'No Heroes' has much to live up to.
Risking cliché, this album does more than justice to its heritage. The sound has noticeably evolved, as the band now combine the punk-metal brutality of 'You Fail Me' with the 'Petitioning the Empty Sky' / 'When Forever Comes Crashing' era's dark, atmospheric artistry, and the band are as tight as they have ever been. One of the highlights is the way haunting, desolate soundscapes such as 'Weight of the Worlds' segue seamlessly into the 'Jane Doe'-esque speedy, chaotic thrash-outs, such as the title track 'No Heroes'. The epic nine-minute outing 'Grim Heart/Black Rose' is another highlight. Obviously though, this is not an album to have standout tracks, as it is more a cohesive body of work. A bleak, nerve-rending, joyous body of work.
As fans will know, Converge's artistry stretches beyond the music into the visual, and this is certainly the case with 'No Heroes'. The CD comes with a card sleeve featuring a dove in shadow silhouetted against the recurring 'sun' image, and this theme continues in the fold-out inlay. As always the artwork, designed entirely by vocalist Jacob Bannon, would be more than welcomed plastered all over my room (for which purpose I recommend the rereleased 'Petioning Forever' vinyl), and deserves far more recognition than it gets.
This then, is a must own for Converge fans, and indeed fans of all heavy music (properly heavy mind, none of your Trivium here). Converge will forever be haunted by the shadow of their seminal 'Jane Doe', and true, this is probably a better first stop in your collection, but it is difficult to compare the albums quality-wise as they are so diverse. I was late getting into Converge (upon release of You Fail Me), but it changed my life and it will change yours.
On top of all this, the split EP with Agoraphobic Nosebleed, 'The Poacher Diaries', is being remastered and rereleased, and Converge are to tour the UK in 2007. It's going to be a good year.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
incredible, 10 Dec 2006
im not a fan of most reviewers in magazines and in general. handing out high marks for any album that is listenable. so beleive me i do not give 5 star reviews often.(however converge being one of my favourite bands for years does make it slightly bias)
this is not jane doe, and this is not you fail me.
whereas jane doe was praised for being one of the greatest extreme cds ever, you fail me was criticised by many for being different. admitedly i dont think it was as good as jane doe but it was a complete different album. more stripped down hardcore.
but now for this cd.
anyone who has listened to converge for a while knows they dont like making 2 albums the same, and if jane doe to you fail me went from chaotic metal to basic hardcore its hard to explain quite where this has gone to.
i honestly cannot think of another cd that i could say it sounds anything like.
the high point for me is grim heart/black rose- a stunning epic and hauntinglly beautiful. complete different to anything they've done. guest singing and everything
i cant put into words how good this is
just buy it for the sake of saving yourself from the likes of standard hardcore ie.terror or trendy metalcore ie. bmth
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best Converge Album Yet!, 27 Nov 2006
I've been following Converge for quite some time now and I've always loved it when they add an atmospheric, brooding dark sound to the tracks; which they do so well. They did it superbly with a lot of Jane Doe and for a while I hailed it as their masterwork. Then recently I picked up this; and I have to say that it has quickly become my favourite Converge album. It's still got the energetic frantic frenzy signature sound, but it also has a lot of slower dark melodies that they play around with; overall though it's a brilliant mix of the two. Standout tracks for me are To the Lions, Plagues and possibly my favourite converge song Grim Heart / Black Rose; which even has a bit of singing for good measure. If you're into either Energetic Hardcore or Atmospheric Hardcore defiantly check this album out.
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