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Show THE FORUM - NOVEMBER 14, 2012 New Music Reviews Phillip K. Gipson Contributing Writer Converge Love All We We Leave Behind: Ive been a fan of Converge, of Salem, Mass., since the late 90s, and this is my favorite LP of theirs yet. Converge is heavily involved in promoting aggressive, powerful hardcore punk and metal acts through vocalist Jacob Bannons Deathwish Inc. label and guitarist Kurt Ballous GodCity Studios. The members of Converge dont simply write and perform. Theyre live wires - behaving as conduits for a very abrasive, dynamic, and somehow tidily nuanced assault upon the senses. steamroller Trespasses, the short Whether on the double sharp shocks of Tender Abuse and Sparrows Fall, or the grandiose behemoths that are tracks 7, 10, and 13, Converge has woven a masterful web here, drawing out old raw threads and spinning them together deftly with the ominous atmospherics and surgical precision found on more recent LPs like Axe to Fall. bass-driv- en Bram Weijters-Cha- d McCullough Quartet Urban Nightingale Belgian pianist Bram Weijters and Seattleite trumpeter Chad McCullough, backed by bassist Piet Verbist and drummer John Bishop deliver a sun dimming brand of metro 7 p.m. jazz that sounds a red brick downtown bell to match the cover art. Its not midnight dark noir jazz, but its far from sunny broad avenuecity park daylight jazz. Let the first minute, maybe two, of Nightingale roll-ovyou to lay some soft groundwork, but dont expect much in those first moments. Nightingale, like much of the LP, is paced and purposefully slow to strike. The best tracks here catch listeners off guard with docile starts. However, a few, namely Freezing and Love Song, dont impart much weight (not surprising confor that sidering the latters title), leaving us lingering docility to bud. Regardless of a few missteps, there are some gems here: Residue (the last half is beautiful), Flow. ArA"AY5 sky-gazi- ng er good-natured- ly ifiihrtiiii n n a nr inttftihfiTitr m i Deftones Koi NoYokan Sacramentos Deftones are such an anachronistic anomalous entity. The name suggests a 70s soul group, but the sound blends 80s k sensibiliDuran Duran pop and Echo and the Bunnymen ties with melancholy dream pop listlessness, the crunch of metal acts like Sepultura, and the raw energy of early hardcore like DYS. This befuddling potpourri is both gift and curse. Consumers are eased by definable commodity, which this isnt, but they also enjoy art which defies expectation and convention. This, the 7th LP, shows just why hold-ovfrom their metal era yet receive they are the single relevant such derision at times. Like the White Pony LP, this release is softer often than their standard, and is... pretty. The tracks are blossoming in power choruses as in Leathers. Gauze features the heaviest riffs here and showcases Chinos soaring voice and skill in employing unusual melodies. This is a driving album. Those thick bass tones resonate best in the confines of your Batmobile, especially on beauties like Rosemary. 'A' A A A5 post-pun- er full-bodie- & d, M M M M TP |