Converge – Bloodmoon: I | Album Review

Converge are heralded as one of hardcore’s most important bands, and with good reason. Jane Doe still stands head and shoulders above a lot of what’s come since then and the band have only continued to push themselves while churning out fantastic records. That desire to push the envelope, to explore and reinvent themselves led to an-all-too-brief outing under the Blood Moon moniker in which they joined forces with Chelsea Wolfe, Ben Chisholm from her band and Stephen Brodsky of the mighty Cave In, amongst others. Their reimagined versions of Converge classics is widely heralded as a classic moment in live music history, not just hardcore and fans have looked back on it fondly for years. 

All of this is to set the scene for an announcement that immediately sent expectations and hype levels sky high – the musicians would once more reunite, but rather than redoing existing material, there would be an collaborative album of entirely new music, formed by all involved together. That album is Bloodmoon: I, a name in itself (thanks to the inclusion of the ‘I’) that meant people were instantly excited not only for this but the prospect of further Bloodmoon releases. With such a reputation preceding Converge and their collaborators, if it were any other band there might have been serious questions about whether they could deliver on them. 

In short, Bloodmoon: I delivers in spades. Lead single ‘Blood Moon’ is an eight minute epic that blooms from its eerie piano and vocal opening to a crushing, post metal odyssey that balances the triple vocals of Jacob Bannon, Chelsea Wolfe and Stephen Brodsky delicately, no one outshining the other or hogging the spotlight. It’s a balance that shifts throughout to suit the mood or the timbre required, such as on ‘Coil’ that moves from slow, almost serene beginnings to a more urgent, frantic mood. The interplay between the three is arguably one of the stars of the show, with Wolfe’s banshee wails in ‘Blood Moon’ proving she’s just as capable of viciousness as either of the other two – though her work with Thou really should mean there was no doubt there either. ‘Viscera Of Men’ is the most typically Converge song, at least for its opening twenty seconds as it barrels through D-beat hardcore before careening into apocalyptic doom. Its oppressive atmosphere is barely lightened by Wolfe’s voice, instead lending a yearning desperation, especially in its closing minutes. 

There’s a staggering variety of textures on display throughout; strings, samples, synths and more all coalesce and heighten the grandeur of this collaborative work. Careful attention is paid to the balancing of heavy and melodic or delicateness, too; the light touches that open ‘Coil’ are of particular note. Its strings and bass approach is simple but effective, giving plenty of room to breathe and grow throughout. The back-to-back of ‘Tongues Playing Dead’ and ‘Lord Of Liars’ also give the more noise-influenced areas of Converge’s sound time to shine, whereas the more melodious qualities of Cave In are displayed in ‘Failure Forever’. 

Converge have always had a more atmospheric edge to them, that has every so often been brought to the fore on their own work but here, it truly takes the spotlight. Atmospheric, grandiose, heavy, emotionally raw; all of these describe Bloodmoon: I and yet, none of them truly summarise just how special this is. At once immediately identifiable as its creators’ work, yet sounding nothing like anything they’ve done before, it’s a collaborative triumph. Even at 11 songs and an hour long it doesn’t feel overstuffed in the slightest; instead it’s an album that explores the more experimental nooks and crannies of all involved, expertly blending Chelsea Wolfe’s gothic-tinged work with longtime collaborator Ben Chisholm, the fury and emotion of Converge and the oddball, quirky melodic sensibilities of Cave In’s Brodksy. Bloodmoon: I is so much more than the sum of its parts, unlocking and unfurling parts of Converge’s sound that have hidden in the shadows for too long and a bold statement against creative stagnation from a band that continues to run circles around their peers.