“I never knew what it meant to be free.”
Within the ever-growing confines of the metalcore sphere, no band has aged quite as finely as Converge. Singlehandedly responsible for some of the genre’s most acclaimed LPs such as Jane Doe and All We Love We Leave Behind, the band’s immortality seemed to falter in the mid-2010s as full-length releases seemed to be getting more and more sparse. It seems, however, that following their swift entry into album-of-the-year level territory with February’s comeback breakout album Love Is Not Enough, they’ve thrown us a curve ball and unleashed a second LP to round out the summer. After a short-lived 4 months of studio silence, contrasted by the grueling 5 years that have passed since the group’s collaborative effort with Chelsea Wolfe, Hum of Hurt reaffirms that Converge are back in earnest as the 33 minute affair doubles down on the quartet’s trademark metalcore sound whilst treading just enough new ground to ensure Hum of Hurt continues to sound fresh and inspired.
While the notion of a second Converge album landing this year already feels like a pipe dream, what’s even more surprising is Hum of Hurt may actually be the stronger of the two. Of course, having indulged in the fierce competition of Love Is Not Enough for several months now, recency bias may need to be taken into account; however, it’s difficult to dismiss just how immensely satisfying and remarkably consistent Hum of Hurt is–right from its opening moments up until it crosses the finish line. “Slip the Noose” sets a precedent that much of the record lives up to; a sludge-infused metalcore assault laden with all of the technical chops and intricacies that are synonymous with Converge while continuing to hone a newfound early-2000s sludge metal influence that largely began with the track “Amon Amok” back in February.
Throughout much of its runtime, Hum of Hurt indulges in a tendency to slow things down. While much of Converge‘s usual soundscape contains blisteringly breakneck tempos, such moments are actually rarer than one might expect here. Deeper cuts such as “It Only Gets Worse” and “Detonator” are mid-tempo ragers with groovy drum patterns, rumbling bass and sludge-driven riffs that are all enhanced by Kurt Ballou’s expectedly brilliant production effort. “I Won’t Let You Go” and the titular “Hum of Hurt” are perhaps the only real outliers, presenting themselves as marginally faster punk-infused cuts; even still, the blast beats heard on a track like “Concubine” 25 years ago are kept to a minimum here, which is something that perhaps inadvertently gives Hum of Hurt its charm and identity among an expansive discography.
“Dream Debris” acts almost as a climax for Hum of Hurt, taking all of its already presented elements and acclimatizing them into a dynamic 6 minute epic. Groovy bass laden bridges give way to powerful metallic crescendos that contain some of Jacob Bannon’s most heartfelt screams to date. “It Used To Matter” is an intermittent guitar piece that transitions into the aforementioned title track before we arrive at the finish line with “Nothing Is Over”, which, perhaps ironically, is one of the most explosive cuts on the record. While earlier album closers like “Jane Doe” and “Wretched World” are some of Ballou and company’s most experimental endeavors, Hum of Hurt closes on a note that mirrors the consistency of the album, and by extension, that of its 4 month old predecessor as well.
It’s hard to find any legitimate weakness in Hum of Hurt. Given Converge are an elite outfit that have been churning out quality releases for now over three decades, even the most tempered of expectations are easily exceeded each and every time. The concise runtimes of Love Is Not Enough and Hum of Hurt may cause some of Converge‘s usual willingness to delve into avant-garde territory to go amiss, but if two drops within a matter of months is any indication, perhaps a steady flow of new Converge material may be back on the menu; in which case, we may see some of these more Bloodmoon-oriented elements resurface in the near future. Until then, the consistency and drive of the Massachusetts outfit is undeniable, and Converge are living proof that age and quality are not necessarily correlated.
