Melody, noise converge

After 20 years, Converge is still pissed off.

Few bands in the current metal scene have been as influential as Converge or as consistently unflinching in their sound. Converge’s newest, “Axe to Fall,” is 11 songs of discordant, noisy hardcore driven by speed-metal drums and two songs of spacey atmospherics.

It may seem like an odd pairing, but that makes “Axe to Fall” one of the better metal albums of the year.

The title track is classic Converge, a short sub-two minutes blast of vocalist Jacob Bannon’s nearly unintelligible screams, dense drop-tuned guitars and a second break down.

After 30 minutes of pummeling hardcore, we get “Cruel Bloom” and “Wretched World”, two songs that sound like Radiohead in an insane asylum.

“Axe to Fall” is definitely not for everyone, but for fans of abrasive, noisy hardcore, there hasn’t been a better record all year.