Following Petitioning the Empty Sky, in 1998 found Converge reloading their creative guns and blasting yet another gaping hole in the stagnant hardcore/metalcore underground. When Forever Comes Crashing further cemented Converge in the collective psyches of extreme music fans everywhere, and even after seven years Forever is still demented, crazed, freaking scary, and wholly original. Sadly, Forever was prematurely reduced to the category of "not-so-good" Converge albums due to its exceedingly horrible production, and many Converge Cultists were unwilling to wade through the murky soundscapes more than once or twice. Reissued along with its predecessor, Petitioning the Empty Sky, Forever now sounds like it should; a peerless slab of grandoise work from one of the most vital bands in the hardcore microverse.
The manic ear-drum ripping administered by "My Unsaid Everything" is only a pre-quake tremor when stacked next to the earth-shaker that is "The High Cost of Playing God." Converge crams so much murderous intent into this simply jaw dropping and mathy monster that it almost makes the album...just kidding. No amount of talent is sacrificed as other suspects complete the lineup; the slow-burner "In Harm's Way" is lit, allowed to slowly consume one's senses, and without warning explodes in a hellacious fireball. "Conduit" scatters the ashes left from "Harm's Way" and I promise few songs have such life to them as "The Lowest Common Denominator."
Fan favorite "Towing Jehovah" is a swift and effective punch in the face, and title track "When Forever Comes Crashing" is straight energy by a band that's at their vicious best in a mode where large amounts of speed are involved. The surprisingly delicate "Ten Cents" is an almost spacey interlude of quiet reflection, but none should be surprised by "Year of the Swine," a beastly noise horror spawned by some kind of schizophrenic algebra.
"Letterbomb" gives new meaning to the phrase "going postal" as it proceeds to kick some seriously riff-heavy arse, and "Love as Arson" is yet another eviscerating piece of deranged metalcore fury. The bonus track, a demo of "Bitter and Then Some" (from the album and Converge high point Jane Doe, which came out after Forever was released) has a polished yet raw intensity to it and already shows the startling direction Converge was heading in for on their defining album, Jane Doe.
The cleaned-up songs sound like a million dollars here, and as on the Petitioning reissue ISIS' Aaron Turner has created excellent artwork for this solid remake. Though this album is insanely good, a few of the songs are almost too chaotic for their own staying power, and as such, Forever is half a beat away from being as amazing as other Converge works. However, new and old fans alike will find the refocusing of the tracks here really put new perspective on the talent Converge has always held, even in their weakest moments as opposed to their strongest. Heck, with Converge there really are no weak moments anyways. It might have been seven years since some of us first heard this, but it no longer has to feel like forever; When Forever Comes Crashing part two sounds every bit as wicked the second time around.
