Converge The Dusk in Us

What’s left to say about Converge? The Boston metalcore savants have practically defined the genre by fusing some of metal’s most technical, punishing elements with hardcore/punk’s raw intensity and breakneck pacing. They’ve been a band for nearly 30 years, and with every new release, continue to refine the formula with releases like 2001’s Jane Doe and 2012’s All We Love We Leave Behind.

On their first album in five years (the band’s longest dormant period), Converge explores the more robust elements of the sound they’ve created. Songs “Arkhipov Calm” and “I Can Tell You About Pain” are a one-two lesson on the band’s mathy sound, which sends drummer Ben Koller’s technical, experimental drumming to the forefront. That’s doesn’t mean the rest of the band falls behind, though. Frontman Jacob Bannon explores the band’s melodic side, mixing gruff singing with his piercing screams on “Under Duress,” and guitarist Kurt Ballou’s sweeping guitar work shines across the speedy “Broken By Light.” It all comes together on the excellent seven-minute title track, a brooding, introspective opus that could someday stand as the band’s “Stairway to Heaven.”