Long acknowledged for the poetic quality of his lyricism, Bannon makes clever metaphor from Soviet nuclear abstention on “Arkhipov Calm” while drawing parallels between sport hunting and moral cowardice on “Wildlife”. Opener “A Single Tear” ponders the profound power of parenthood in a manner this genre of music rarely if ever purports itself in. Coming months after the release of his meandering yet sincere post-metal solo venture Wear Your Wounds, he comes to The Dusk in Us with heart beating in hand. Sixteen years since that 2001 album and five years since the release of the critically acclaimed All We Love We Leave Behind, Bannon apparently wishes to be understood.
From the flames, frontman Jacob Bannon’s inscrutable barks barely resembled human speech, an extreme technique used to great effect previously on their landmark full-length Jane Doe. Those caught in the vivid rapture of this unhinged sound surely forgave them such heavy-handed hokum. Even fans of the pioneering Victory Records metalcore brutes that preceded Converge could tell this tightly wound fury was an extraordinary leap forward from the punk breakdowns that had become bog standard. Musically, however, “No Heroes” sounded like a band on fire, quite literally. The members bounce and grimace against the blustery winds of the hellish CGI backdrop, appearing less in its destructive midst than artificially detached from it. An unintentionally droll use of green screen, it presents the New England metallic hardcore quartet performing amidst the rapid collapse of what we can surmise as some urban dystopia, Boston or Providence or somewhere equally as worthy of downfall. As introductions to a band’s music go, few seem poorer than the music video for Converge’s 2006 single “No Heroes”.
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