Our Eagles Become Our Vultures

Converge – You Fail Me

You Fail Me comes chronologically right after Jane Doe and right before No Heroes, and there's not a lot to say about it that I didn't say in either of those posts. It's all about brutal, raw hardcore, with a bit of arrhythmic craziness thrown in.

That said, out of those three albums You Fail Me is probably my favourite, mainly because there are a few more departures from their typical style. If there's one thing I look for in a good album it's dynamism. You can write the ten best brutal death metal songs in the world, but if they all do more or less the same thing they won't make for a great album. You Fail Me contains a few gentler acousticy tracks, most notably 'In Her Shadow' which undergoes a very cool rhythmic transition at the halfway point from maudlin to impassioned. The title track is worth mentioning too, a slow, grinding song that's just a wee bit doom metal and which also makes a nice break from their usual style.

Of course, an equal part of this album's goodness comes from the fact that the songs in their typical hardcore style are fucking great too. Just about every one is a classic, but I'd have to give a nod to 'Drop Out' as being exceptional above the rest. It just plain rocks.