Converge, Featuring
Chelsea Wolfe/Ben Chisholm/Steve Brodsky
Bloodmoon: I
Deathwish, Inc./Epitath
Rating: 9.5/10
By: Nicholas A. Minyard
For: Sounds From The
Basement
There are a few albums in
my life that leave a huge impression on me from the first listen. A
few that come to mind are “Jane Doe” by Converge, “Bloody
Kisses” by Type O Negative, “Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloraim” by
Gorgoroth, “Container Ships” by Kowloon Walled City, and “Hiss
Spun” by Chelsea Wolfe. Something all of these albums had in common
to me were, other than solid riffs, crisp performance, and memorable
tracks, was that they brought something new to the table that I
hadn't heard before. With Jane Doe and Bloody Kisses, I was given
pain conveyed through music, granted both ways were drastically
different, but it was perfectly conveyed. Through Ad Majorem, I was
given a sonic blast of aggression while being paired with more
cinematic tracks that gave me a slower, but still incredibly
powerful, strike. Container Ships taught me that an album can easily
flow from track to track with near-poetic performances from each and
every instrument, and Hiss Spun showed me an artist can grow and
evolve into darker and heavier tones while keeping the same energy
and artistry that they begun with. While I have experienced those
same emotions and experiences with other albums, the above mentioned
are the ones that stuck with me for years and years. Two of those
artists are very important in this review, those being Chelsea Wolfe
and Converge. Chelsea Wolfe, bandmate Ben Chisholm, and the legendary
Steve Brodsky of Cave-In and Old Man
Gloom fame, join Converge on
their newest effort, “Bloodmoon: I” “Bloodmoon: I” is, in my
opinion, hard to label as just a Converge album, because of the
enormous contribution that the other artists on the record provide,
and the past history of the “Blood Moon” collaborative project.
Blood Moon dates back to 2016, when all the aforementioned musicians
performed 4 shows under the moniker, providing audiences with slower
and more post-rock/ambient renditions of some of Converge's lesser
known and slower tracks. Fast forward a few years, and we have
“Bloodmoon: I,” a perfect accumulation of all of the artists
needs and desires from their music.
Now, I attempted to think
of a way I could do a track-by-track review of this record, but the
more I listened to it, the less I thought that going that route would
give the project justice. This is an album that DEMANDS to be
listened to from front to back. After initially hearing the singles
for the record, Blood Moon and Coil, I found myself wondering how the
album would play out. Now that I have heard the whole thing, I can
attest that the singles do not do the entirety of the album justice.
Wolfe and Jacob Bannon play off each other beautifully in almost
every track, with Wolfe's haunting voice drawing the listener deeper
into the compositions, much like a siren into a watery abyss, and
Bannon providing a vocal performance that embody the demons found in
said abyss. However, that does not just include his signature harsh
vocals, but also more clean vocals than I can recall hearing on
almost any of Converge's previous albums. I hesitate to call it a
“Beauty-and-the-Beast” contrast, due to the fact they sometimes
become one and the same, Wolfe's vocals becoming a beautiful beast,
and Bannon becoming a beastly beauty. Along with the duo's
performance, Gregorian style chanting, layered vocal tracks, and
contrast of soft and harsh tracks are throughout the record, creating
and enhancing the haunting and dark melody that the album presents.
Pairing with the vocals, the instrumentation is masterfully playing
to the same tone that is set. Setting a perfect example, Ben Koller
on Viscera of Men starts with a fast, metalcore-esque drum track, and
ends with a drumbeat that would be at home in any doom metal lovers
favorite album, and carries this same theme throughout the entirety
of the album, laying down some of the tightest drum tracks I have
heard in his entire career with Converge. Kurt Ballou and Nate Newton
are in rare form on the album, putting their knowledge from their
various projects on beautiful display, seamlessly transitioning from
panic-inducing Converge style riffs, doom and gloom slowed down
sections rife with reverb and echo, gothic inspired accompaniments
that pair immaculately with Wolfe's haunting performance, a “bar
rock” track that would be the perfect soundtrack to any movie's
“bar scene” (see Scorpion's Sting to fully understand) and even
instances of shoegaze, black metal, post metal, and more are peppered
throughout at just the right times to provide an ebb and flow for the
entirety of the album. Acoustic guitar, synthesizers and organ
tracks, and so much more are prevalent throughout the entire album,
perfectly setting a tone of something much greater than just “a new
Converge album” and elevating the instrumentation to something
beyond and above. Steven Brodsky's touch is felt all across the album
as well, providing passages of Cave In-esque riffs, New Idea Society
melancholic refrains, and even a grunge tinge on some tracks a' la
later Cave In albums. All of these factors lead into an experience of
an album, where while every song can stand on it's own two feet,
altogether it stands all the more taller. Each track has its own
pulse, its own life, and yet, all combine and lead together to make
something greater than the individual, creating a whole that is
powerful, memorable, and unique. With that being said, some of the
more Converge purist fans who want them to keep rehashing the same
old same old Jane Doe/You Fail Me era sonic assault style album may
have trouble approaching this one. There is a large amount of
influence from each artist on the album, which creates an unfamiliar
sound in comparison to some of their older albums, and while I (and
many others) see this as natural progression and striving for
artistic perfection and expression, some may see this as a band
forgoing their roots and going in a weird direction. However,
Converge has always had a mind for the experimental, so fans of their
discography as a whole will feel right at home.
There aren't many albums
that I can put on and listen to straight through multiple times in
one sitting. Bloodmoon: I is one of those albums. Since the moment I
pressed play, I have not been able to stop listening to it. The
haunting vocal tracks Wolfe provides, Bannon playing right off of her
energy, the instrumentation setting a scene of darkness and majesty,
the whole of the album plays more like a sonic symphony rather than a
metalcore record. The only gripes I have with the record are two; I
would change the track order, rearranging the back half only
slightly, to keep a more concise feeling of drowning that the record
provides. My second is simple, I wish there were more. It has been
some time since I have had so much enjoyment out of a record. I would
compare the adventure of listening to this album akin to a sailor
drowning at sea from a fable, where the siren draws them in, and the
deep keeps them there. Bloodmoon: I is an orchestral feeling
experience that I fully see myself returning to again and again, a
perfect combination of what each musician wants and demands from
their skill set, and if this is the direction Converge is going, I
absolutely require a ticket for that ride. If Bloodmoon: I is the
start of a whole new collaborative project, well, I had better start
clearing room on my shelf for more albums, because I can see this
going absolutely to the moon. I have been a fan of Wolfe since Pain
is Beauty, Converge/Cave In shaped a young Nicholas into the music
enjoyer I am now, and being able to listen to a collaboration between
such incredible musicians has been one of the absolute highlights of
my year. I want to thank each and every individual that was a part of
getting this album from the studio to my ears, and thank the
musicians for creating something that transcends the individual and
becomes the whole.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Masterfully produced and tight sound
Wonderful combination of each musicians talents
A seamless listen, able to be listened to in its entirety easily
LOWLIGHTS:
SCORING:
Composition: 10/10
Experimentation: 10/10
Length: 8.5/10
Arrangement: 8/10
Artistry: 10/10
FINAL SCORE: 9.5/10, strong contender for personal Album of the
Year.
