Review Summary: A seminal release from one of hardcore's most important bands
Released in 1996,
Petitioning the Empty Sky is an album that could be said to be ahead of its time. This was just a few years after the birth of metalcore, which is said by many to be
Integrity’s release of
Those Who Fear Tomorrow, which has a very different sound than the metalcore many know today or even heard on this album. It would be several years until bands like
Botch and
Poison the Well brought attention to the scene, so it was quite impressive of Converge to release an album like this so early on.
The first track on the album, “The Saddest Day” sets the tone for the album, and in a sense Converge’s whole career. Only two minutes into the album we hear one of the most crushing breakdowns recorded, which for me, in all the music I’ve heard, hasn’t been topped. The next five tracks show the same kind of blisteringly fast and heavy intensity as the opener. Beyond that, the middle tracks don’t do much else in the context of the album, so the album benefits from its brevity at this point. This is not to say that those songs are bad by any means, which they are far from being. “Farewell Note to this City” is where the album shows its uniqueness once again. The song has an incredibly groovy bass line and is like a ballad of sorts, but take that with a grain of salt because this is Converge we’re talking about. Closing the album is “Color Me Blood Red” Which is another balls out sprint featuring one of the most infectious guitar hooks I’ve ever heard.
Jacob Bannon’s vocals on this album are powerful as always, but much less refined than in Converge’s later work. This shouldn’t be seen as a detriment though, because in tandem with the gritty production his high-pitched growls and whiny crooning add a lot to the aesthetic of the album. Kurt’s guitar playing will also not disappoint, but it would only improve from here. Overall,
Petitioning the Empty Sky is essential to any fan of the genre, and is definitely worthy of Converge’s now legendary status.
