Love Is Not Enough
Converge waste very little time getting to the point on Love Is Not Enough. The title track barely clears two minutes, and most of the first half keeps that same sense of urgency. There are no long introductions to settle into. Jacob Bannon sounds as if something needs saying right now.
That directness suits them. Kurt Ballou's guitar parts are still full of sharp turns, and Ben Koller's drumming gives the songs a physical push even when the rhythms get difficult. Bad Faith is a particularly good example: compact, aggressive and packed with movement. It's the sort of song that makes a fairly convincing argument for keeping things short.
Distract and Divide goes even further in that direction. Then Beyond Repair slows the pace and lets the atmosphere darken. That change makes sense within the album, although it also takes away some of the momentum built by the opening songs. Converge are at their strongest here when the band seem ready to pull in several directions at once and somehow arrive together.
Force Meets Presence gets that feeling back quickly. The title is a fair description of the music: weight, speed and a performance that leaves very little room to look elsewhere. The production makes those moving parts easy to follow, though a slightly rougher sound might have given some riffs more bite.
The longer songs towards the end provide another reason to stay. Make Me Forget You has an emotional weight that doesn't depend entirely on volume, while We Were Never the Same gives the album a more substantial ending. Bannon's delivery remains abrasive, but there's hurt in it as well as anger. That distinction is a big part of why these songs connect.
At roughly half an hour, Love Is Not Enough never feels like a band searching for material to fill a release. A few slower moments are less gripping, but the strongest tracks are focused and alive. Converge still know how to make uncomfortable music feel necessary.
