All We Love We Leave Behind by Converge

AWLWLB is the sound of a legendary band coming to full terms with who they are, giving them the power to take everything that’s made them distinct and pushing those qualities as far as they can go in one unified statement.

With the release of All We Love We Leave Behind, Converge has once again displayed its uncanny ability to create an album as skull-cleaving as it is beautiful.

AWLWLB is an example of building on and mastering the music you loved when you were younger-- something that became more than music, ultimately-- so that it has a chance to grow old with you without becoming any less vital.

While All We Love lacks cohesion in spots, it solidifies Converge’s position as one of hardcore’s most progressive yet soulful stalwarts.

All We Love We Leave Behind retains the fire of Jane Doe and harnesses everything they’ve learned since, combining to create something unrelenting, brutal, and never short of magnificent.

In its totality, this release manages to defy comparison to past albums by keeping this band’s relentless passion for their art burning bright for all to see right up until the very end.

Though dependably abrasive, anthems of doomed youth just aren’t as brilliantly nihilistic when they sound like they’ve got AC/DC’s Angus Young on guitar. 

Aimless Arrow is really good, but the rest just doesn't strike me. Metal continues to evade my taste.