lachiewallace16

Attempting two albums in the same year is ambitious no matter the group, but 'Hum of Hurt' doesn't feel worse off for it. It feels a bit more cerebral than 'Love Is Not Enough', but maintains Converge's signature aggression through jagged, sludgy riffs and very impressive production. A very solid addition to Converge's discography.

I don’t even know what to say to this. It’s brilliant, it’s huge-sounding, it’s complex yet seemingly instinctive, it’s a masterpiece. An acquired taste perhaps but once you tune into this record, you won’t want to tune out.

The guitar tone is brilliant, the rest of this is boring, tries too hard and doesn't bring anything new to the genre. The vocals are cool for like the first song, then they get annoying, and the songs don't have enough differences to distinguish themselves. This record is more of a morbid curiosity in drone/doom than a great achievement like Black One.

This is an admirable attempt to widen the appeal of black metal, but 'Pale Swordsman' overpromises a bit compared to what's actually delivered. The intersection between the piano interludes and black metal tracks isn't always smooth, and the black metal tracks themselves are good but not groundbreaking. A solid album, but not as original as its creator intended.