Converge – The Dusk in Us

Converge have pretty much always been about looking forward, from album to album, searching for how they could possibly add to their already densely layered sound. The Dusk in Us, their ninth full-length, is perhaps the first that sees the heavy hitting four-piece look back at themselves and create something more stripped down. This is perhaps the cleanest sounding record they've ever produced, thanks to production maestro and guitarist Kurt Ballou and to Jacob Bannon's surprisingly restrained voice.

Worry not, long-term fans, as this actually adds to The Dusk in Us' incredible songwriting which ranks amongst the band's best ever. The band's push and pull between genuine beauty and brutal heaviness is employed with incredible mastery, thanks also to Converge's dynamic rhythm section of bassist Nate Newton and drummer Ben Koller. The news that they'll be performing 2004's cult favourite You Fail Me in full next year is telling as it's the closest comparison point to their latest, though The Dusk in Us also slips in guitar references to Ballou's first true love, Slayer, all over the place.

Converge may be slowing down in their output, but this is perhaps the band's best record since You Fail Me, keeping in mind the three albums in-between are not to be sniffed at. 

Listen to: I Can Tell You About Pain, The Dusk in Us, Reptilian