User ratings in Music are temporarily disabled. More info

Axe To Fall
by
  • Record Label:
  • Release Date:
Axe To Fall Image
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 10 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.6

Universal acclaim- based on 56 Ratings

  • Summary: The latest album for the punk rock band features guest artists from such bands as Cave In, Genghis Tron, Neurosis, and Hatebreed.

Top Track

Cruel Bloom
Voracious children and wolves Sharpen their teeth on our bones Carrion feeds the wretched Vacant eyes peer through the hole Beggars and thieves Bring... See the rest of the song lyrics
See Full Track List »
Powered by

Critic Reviews

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
  2. PopMatters
    90
    The closest Converge has ever come to pure doom metal, Ballou’s sustained chords, bent strings, and screeching lead fills are anchored by Newton’s and Koller’s disciplined approach, the chemistry more than apparent during the Big Black-esque break, during which all four members, well, converge in a way that has the rest of us marveling at not only how these guys manage to still sound so fresh on record, but actually get better with each one they put out.
  3. Pitchfork
    85
    A huge array of guests help out, representing acts like Disfear, 108, Genghis Tron, and Neurosis. They are too many to list, but the bottom line is, they work. Whether they're yelling, singing, or laying down leads, they fit their songs. And that in itself is fitting.
  4. Alternative Press
    70
    Sure the plot has been done to death and you know what's going to happen; but the personalities involved draw you in like a rubbernecker gawking at a highway accident fromth safety of his car. [Nov 2009, p.105]
    All this publication's reviews
  5. Q Magazine
    60
    Staying true to a 20-year career of uncompromising extremity, it will take commitment to breach this seventh album's walls of noise. [Dec 2009, p. 113]
    All this publication's reviews
  6. Mojo
    60
    It's Converge's energy that impresses first, their brutal, full-blooded fury, the sheer physical assault; listen closer, however, and you'll find a group as inventive and progressive in their riffage as Slayer or Metallica at their early apex, a compulsive complexity to their chaos. [Feb 2010, p. 100]
    All this publication's reviews
  7. Sputnikmusic
    50
    In general, 'Axe to Fall' speaks towards the stagnancy of most bands in the metal genre. The collaborators here can't even help a band as good as Converge make a solid record and when examining Converge's almost flawless discography that is wholly unexplainable.

See all 10 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 6
  3. Negative: 0 out of 6
  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 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!… Expand
  2. 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 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.… Expand
  4. 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. 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.… Expand
  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 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.… Expand
  6. 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 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?"… Expand
  7. 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.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.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

91
#91 Most Shared Album of 2009

Current Music Releases

Full List »
99 Band on the Run [50th Anniversary Edition] - Paul McCartney & Wings
95 If I don't make it, I love u - Still House Plants
95 The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow - Charles Lloyd
92 This Could Be Texas - English Teacher
92 COWBOY CARTER - Beyoncé
91 The Carnegie Hall Concert - Alice Coltrane
90 1989 (Taylor's Version) - Taylor Swift
90 Iechyd Da - Bill Ryder-Jones
89 I Got Heaven - Mannequin Pussy
89 Black Bayou - Robert Finley
89 Tigers Blood - Waxahatchee
88 Only God Was Above Us - Vampire Weekend
88 What Now - Brittany Howard
88 Hey Panda - The High Llamas
88 Orquídeas - Kali Uchis
88 The Past Is Still Alive - Hurray for the Riff Raff
87 Filthy Underneath - Nadine Shah
87 i/o - Peter Gabriel
87 Blue Lips - ScHoolboy Q
87 Bright Future - Adrianne Lenker
All Current Music »