Review Summary: Baby Doe
The original 1999 poacher diaries split was the single last hulking slab of riffs Converge put to wax before releasing the legendary
Jane Doe and, with Ballou’s Redux treatment lavishly applied, that fact becomes clearer than ever before. Shining beneath its fresh coat of crimson, opener “Locust Reign” smacks of a mangled “Fault and Fracture” fletchling, eagerly repurposing leftover Slayer riffs into every hardcore kid’s delight. So too does “My Great Devastator”, melding the atmospherics of its sequel’s t/t with the chunky, frantic fury of a “Heaven in Her Arms” or “The Broken Vow” and, in turn, cementing itself as one of the band’s most addictively heavy tracks
ever. Detached from Agoraphobic Nosebleed’s offering, its deathcore-esque interludes hacked out and the low-end turned up to 11, this 20-year-old and oft-forgotten set of tracks feels fresh and relevant once again: the missing piece of the puzzle between the niche hardcore outfit that wrote
When Forever Comes Crashing and one of the genre’s single most beloved bands. As expected, the modern mixing occasionally takes its toll - sapping the moreshly murky “They Stretch for Miles” and “Minnesota” of the subtlety and nuance that made them such powerful counterparts to the breakneck noodling surrounding them - but, for the most part, the 2022 reimagining of
The Poacher Diaries is a resounding success. Long-time fans, embrace an old friend; Converge newbies,
prepare for a pummelling.
