Axe To Fall
by Converge
  • Record Label: Epitaph
  • Release Date: Oct 20, 2009
User Score
8.6

Universal acclaim- based on 56 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 49 out of 56
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 56
  3. Negative: 3 out of 56

Review this album

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. MasterJohn
    Oct 25, 2009
    10
    Too good. Big increase in technicality over some of their other releases, a welcome change. Probably their 2nd or 3rd best release, behind Jane Doe and maybe No Heroes. Buy this!
  2. TheGoss
    Oct 25, 2009
    10
    Having listened to Converge for the better part of a decade, I'd have to say Axe to Fall stands up pretty damn close to Jane Doe. That's saying a LOT.
  3. MartinN
    Oct 29, 2009
    10
    Certain sites (cough cough Sputnikmusic! cough cough) like to ruin great bands overall scores on this site -- as they did to mastodon's new record, calling it "poor". silly silly, i say. it really is a shame that these critics seem to get off on saying bad things about great bands in a time when real art-as-music is few and far between. i wish i could somehow "throw out" their Certain sites (cough cough Sputnikmusic! cough cough) like to ruin great bands overall scores on this site -- as they did to mastodon's new record, calling it "poor". silly silly, i say. it really is a shame that these critics seem to get off on saying bad things about great bands in a time when real art-as-music is few and far between. i wish i could somehow "throw out" their reviews and have someone with a bit more empathy and passion write one that would do them justice. rock is in its death-throws for quite some time now. we should all learn to appreciate these late masterpieces and gems that have been released since the mid-90's which may in factl diminish over the next decade (sadly... all styles have eventually become somewhat exhausted over a long enough time-line, i.e. the jazz/blues etc. styles, just as 17th century baroque/rococo styles became old-hat, and 19th century romanticism exhausted various forms, including the sonata, which many had consider the "jewel" of western music, however timeless) ...and what will come out of the ashes of "rock"? the answer is hidden somewhere in the greatness of groups like converge (or the flaming lips, or radiohead, or even the mars volta, to name a few)... it's hard to put your finger on a "new" sound or style before it has been codified or clearly defined. something's coming, fellow music lovers. i can't wait to hear what it is... all rock styles have begun to CONVERGE (hehe) in a no-holds-barred and overt manner, so perhaps we shouldn't be using ultra-specific genre-labeling in a genre that is built on a foundation that was already a hybrid. i call it "mutt music". 10 out of 10 for this group of talented musicians and sonic-bloodbath enthusiasts for forging ahead in a genre (rock, broadly) with so much at stake according to those with enough intuition to look to the future and ask, "what's next?"… Collapse
  4. MikeG
    Oct 23, 2009
    10
    This is quite possibly the best metal/hardcore album to come out this year, and it gives Jane Doe a run for its money. Axe to Fall takes the classic Converge sound, expands on it and throws in some awesome guest artists and the result is the most accessible, genre-defying Converge album yet and they don 't lose a bit of their intensity.
  5. JonathanD
    Oct 27, 2009
    10
    I have a question: Why aren't metal or punk publications ever cited at metacritic? They're the ones who would know most of all how FANTASTIC this record is! Converge is the band of the decade. Everything from Jane Doe till Axe to Fall has been nothing short of stellar. My highest recommendation for the progressive listener with an openness to hear something aggressive and powerful.
  6. Zammy
    Sep 25, 2011
    10
    This is the greatest album I have heard of Converge and it is the greatest thing I heard in 2009. It is raw and technical at the same time. Emotional and apocalyptic. There are few band that can create such a powerful and heavy masterpiece. Almost no double bass and blast drumming, yet the album is like bulldozer.

Awards & Rankings

91
#91 Most Shared Album of 2009

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 10 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 10
  3. Negative: 0 out of 10
  1. AllMusic
    90
    It's the core group that delivers the most astonishing displays of hardcore fury and progressive musical exploration on Axe to Fall
    Read full review
  2. Drowned In Sound
    80
    Axe To Fall makes good with an appetite for reinvention.
    Read full review
  3. NOW Magazine
    80
    Converge create art-school hardcore while still delivering on metal’s basest needs.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »