Review Summary: Vicious where it needs to be and highly diverse, No Heroes has cemented itself as a great if not incredible outing for Converge.
Converge - quite possibly
the hardcore band. Their near three decade tenure in the business has seen them evolve from thrashy, Slayer-esque hardcore to something rather special, as albums Jane Doe and You Fail Me demonstrate. Rarely disappointing and always visceral and vicious in their delivery, the quartet took many an experimental turn with the release of No Heroes. The opening four tracks serve as a swift gut punch combo, with each providing harsh, heavy barrages of riffs and vocals. As vocalist Jacob Bannon reels off his undecipherable vocals, the band behind him produce a punishing and altogether brutal onslaught of hardcore. Vengeance is probably the best track of the four, with a superb set of drum fills in the beginning and an even more impressive double bass pedal outro.
And then, serenity. Weight of the World serves as an interlude that appears to bridge the first four tracks of the album to the rest. The main thing I have noticed with No Heroes is that this is quite a diverse record for the band. Tracks such as Plagues delve into sludge territory, with cyclic riffs and thick bass. Grim Heart / Black Rose proves that the group can write outside their typical metalcore territory, showcasing a song almost worthy of ballad status. In terms of particularly noteworthy tracks, Trophy Scars is an emotional and heartfelt track with Bannon altering his typical vocal approach to a more 'emo' sound/feel. The result is glorious in it's attempt to diversify the band's sound and other experiments such as Orphaned (which demonstrates Ballou playing in the nineties 'emo' scene style) are pulled off with flair and aplomb.
The album closes with what is quite possibly the heaviest track present on the album in the form of To the Lions. Bombardments of off-kilter rhythms and a truly punishing breakdown to end the song firmly solidifies the album's intention, which I believe was to present a band that not only can destroy walls with their heaviness but also transcend from typical metalcore to more progressive realms. Whilst the majority of listeners whom received No Heroes didn't rate it as highly as say the band's magnum opus Jane Doe, I can safely say that No Heroes, whilst not as chaotic as Jane Doe, or as conceptually brilliant as You Fail Me, delivered an album full of strengths rather than weaknesses.
