Revisited: Converge - Jane Doe (2001)

Revisited: Converge - Jane Doe (2001)
(Revisited is a feature in which I rediscover old albums in my collection and see how my opinions of them have changed. Today, in honor of the albums' recent induction into the Decibel magazine Hall of Fame, I wanted to post an old writing of mine that chronicles my discovery of the metal masterpiece, Jane Doe.)

People hardly ever recommend me any good music. Yeah, I said it! And I'm totally aware of the snobbish tone that such a comment suggests, and sadly I'm half serious. It's hard out there for a snob. I'm not saying people don't try to recommend music to me, nor am I saying I don't appreciate it when they do, but usually I'm already familiar with the names they mention and I either a) already own their albums, b) am planning on getting their albums, or c) have already decided I hate them. I've recommended many an artist to friends and acquaintances only to have them become obsessed with them (oftentimes becoming a bigger fan of the band than I was). I like providing that resource to people. Like a living, breathing Last FM that will read their musical tastes and give them exactly what they've been wanting to hear. But poor old me has to go about it the hard way: scouring, mainly on the internet, for reviews and mp3's, trying to stumble upon a new obsession. And some people may be thinking: well those are people writing those reviews, aren't they? Well, yes, but that's missing the point of what I desire. I want real people. People I know, who are in front of me. People at concerts or at work or at bars or barbecues, with whom I start a conversation about music and they tell me "Hey, you should really check out this band..." and to have that band be new to me, and to be awesome. Such things happen so rarely with me, or anyone, for that matter. One of those times, though, I found out about a little album called Jane Doe.

Never being one to turn down a music recommendation from an unfamiliar artist, I borrowed Jane Doe from a friend and listened to it as soon as I got home. First impression: "HOLY SHIT!". It was pretty intense, about three quiet moments on the entire thing (and two of them were the two verses of "Hell To Pay"). I couldn't see myself listening to such screaming and nonsense for any extended period of time. Still, I thought the band was decent, and I thanked my friend for the recommendation and gave him his album back.

Long story short: A year passed. I kept thinking about it. Eventually bought my own copy. Became one of my favorite albums of all time.

The very thing that kept me from really getting into the album in the first place was the exact thing that I came to respect about it: that overwhelming intensity, consistent throughout. And it wasn't just noise for the sake of noise. It was the good noise. The songs were good. Everything flowed cohesively and worked so well together as an album. And it's meant to be listened to just like that: as an album, not for just one or two specific songs. I find myself at a loss to describe the actual sound, that towering wall of sound that crumbles and buries the listener for 45 minutes. I hate using words like "punishing", but dammit, it's a good fit here.

What I've come to realize over the years is that Converge have something that other, similar bands don't have. The fact that I'm not at all a fan of metalcore and consider them to be one of my favorite bands, and this album to be one of my favorite albums, speaks to how effectively they do what they do. Many of the recommendations I have gotten from people were for other bands that are like Converge, but they never really captured my attention the same way. They couldn't control their chaos the same way. They were too much where Converge were just right. Converge know what they hell they're doing. And that had never been more obvious than on this masterpiece.



"Thaw"

Links:
Converge Cult
Myspace