No Heroes

A lot of people seem genuinely concerned over whether Converge's music is hardcore punk, or metal, or screamo. But jeez, who cares, when it sounds this good? Like its rattier, artier compatriots the Blood Brothers, Converge collapses different elements of aggressive rock together in a way that's wholly intense and pummeling. The group’s sound is original enough to be compelling, and almost always excellent. Lyrically, this is the first Converge album to venture beyond the realm of romantic relationships. On the group's website, band members posted an explanation for the record's title, saying that today, "cowards outnumber the heroes, and the begging souls outweigh the calloused hands of the hardest of workers," adding that "the lack of passion is sickening, and the lust for complacency is poisonous," and boasting that "this album is the artistic antithesis of that sinking world; a thorn in the side of their beast." Such rhetoric would generally come off as pretentious at best. But No Heroes, perhaps Converge’s most fully realized album, is so uncompromisingly brutal, that statement reads more like a description than a boast.