Review Summary: 3 songs get "Converged".
Converge covers the 3 following songs on their
Y2K Ep.
Serial Killer (Vio-Lence cover) - 2:37
Snowblind (Black Sabbath cover) - 4:29
Disintegration (The Cure cover) - 6:42
Why are they covering these? Who knows and/or cares. It's
Converge, the kings of metalcore. Their definitive sound that kicks disaster in the face and eats cataclysm for breakfast. And if they don't pull it off so well oh well this
is just some random Ep by the band I decided to check out one day. You think a band like Converge can't make 15 minutes sound brutal no matter what? And besides they're just covers.
And starting with those covers is
Serial Killer opening with a bang (literally) and then slamming you in the face with some slashing power chords before the thrashing vocals take over. It's fast, it's brutal and the covers are positively "Converged" (ah get it..) into a raging form of their former selfs. While
Serial Killer isn't a technical feat in terms of musicianship the briskly crunchy "dun dun dun" guitar progressions may ensue a head bob or two.
Snowblind steps it up in terms of musicianship however. Here the guitar lines are more clear and the shrieking vocals are actually quite excellent and very fitting for the song. The lead guitar riff and the slower mid section definitely gives off a Black Sabbath type sound. The bass is also superb and you'll find the bassist picking out single notes and interesting fills to underlay each song creating the needed groovy rhythm. All in all
Snowblind is certainly the best cover out of the first two.
And now on to my favorite.
Disintegration one of my favorite Cure songs this is the song that intrigued me to give this a go in the first place. Opening with a slightly murky tone an ominous guitar plucks its way around an accompanying bass and the effect is a moody and desolate atmosphere, very much like The Cure. The drumming throughout the song give of a very industrial vibe as does the rest of the cover. The vocals are quite simply phenomenal as the shrieking match the clean vocals with a powerful force of emotion. The cover is quite simply divine yet foreboding in the best of ways. It retains The Cures sorrow driven atmosphere and pair it with Converge's disaster vibe like a glove. The end result is a song that sounds influenced by The Cure but executed by a hardcore band, in the best of ways of course.
Converge. Whether you love them hate them or just think they're okay this likely won't change your mind so the end result is as follows. "Serial Killer" is brutally straightforward but a little on the basic side, still not bad by any means. "Snowblind" sounds technically better as well as vocally and is the second best track on the 3 track Ep. "Disintegration" is outstanding in every sense and mixes two completely different styles of murky and catastrophe and somehow pulls it off seamlessly. Sure it's only 3 songs and nothing here is going to change your life or outlook on music but it's still interesting and definitely worth a listen.
