I’ve wanted to write a book called “What We Talk About When We Talk About Metal.” I don’t want to write it to be smarmy or make a bunch of points about how metal is overlooked or beautiful in its own right. I don’t want to poke fun at metal folks or make grand points about the habitually overused riffs and shitty lyrics. You see, I like metal– albeit a certain brand of metal. I have a go-to list of angry albums, ones that nurture me through the shittiest of days. No, my book would just be conversations people have while listening to metal. Put on an album like Converge’s Axe To Fall in a group setting sometime. You will notice changes instantaneously and not just people’s eyes rolling or someone asking what the hell you are playing.

Axe To Fall is a disaster of riffs (compliment) and a study in how to sustain destruction for a long period of time. For nine songs, the listener hardly gets a break from insane drumwork, persistent screaming and an overall sense of enlightened-yet-disheartened, emotive lyrics. What I talk about when I talk about this album: shit is brutal for awhile; a long while. Then, the album shifts to downtempo indie riffs for the last couple of songs– almost as if the band has decided to let the listener settle for a shelter after a tornado ripped the roof off of their house.

The album is piercing, destructive and whirlwind, yet there’s a sense that there’s too much going on at times. A cavalcade of guest stars litters the songs– spare riffs from some of their favorite musicians, though they are not the selling point of the album, thankfully. These extra solos and level of grating noise don’t hinder, but rarely help the band. They earmark certain tracks and falsify others– at times the album’s production overshadows its sole purpose. The purpose of metal is not to educate or reason: it is to destroy. Pure, simple destruction. And this album does that most of the time. And I’m cool with it. What I talk about when I talk about Converge: kicking ass. Axe To Fall certainly kicks ass, so there’s not much to talk about, actually. Just listening is enough.