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''Axe to Fall'' is the seventh studio album by American
metalcore Metalcore is a broadly defined fusion genre combining elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk, originating in the 1990s United States and becoming popular in the 2000s. Metalcore typically has aggressive verses and melodic choruses, combined ...
band Converge, released on October 19, 2009, by
Epitaph Records Epitaph Records is an American independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. A large portion of the record label, known as Hellcat Records, is owned by Tim Armstrong, frontman of the punk rock band Rancid. Several ...
. It is the band's most collaborative album, featuring a number of guest musicians, including members of Cave In and Genghis Tron and
Steve Von Till Stephen Francis Von Till Jr. is an American musician, best known as the guitarist of the metal band Neurosis (band), Neurosis, in which he also shared lead vocals with former member Scott Kelly (musician), Scott Kelly. Following Kelly's departu ...
of
Neurosis Neurosis (: neuroses) is a term mainly used today by followers of Freudian thinking to describe mental disorders caused by past anxiety, often that has been repressed. In recent history, the term has been used to refer to anxiety-related con ...
, who performs lead vocals on the slow,
Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on society's underworld and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He began in the American folk music, fo ...
-esque track "Cruel Bloom". The album was produced by guitarist
Kurt Ballou Kurt Ballou (born February 1, 1974) is an American musician and record producer based in Massachusetts, best known as the guitarist for metalcore band Converge and for his recording and production work at his own GodCity Studio. Early and pe ...
, and the artwork was created by vocalist Jacob Bannon. ''Axe to Fall'' peaked at number 74 on the ''
Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists. Sometimes, a rec ...
'', and was well received by critics, who generally described it as their most accessible work.


Background and recording

Converge began writing ''Axe to Fall'' in November 2008. With Jacob Bannon,
Kurt Ballou Kurt Ballou (born February 1, 1974) is an American musician and record producer based in Massachusetts, best known as the guitarist for metalcore band Converge and for his recording and production work at his own GodCity Studio. Early and pe ...
and Nate Newton all living within a half a mile of each other in
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
and Ben Koller living a couple hours away in
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, the band could easily practice for weeks at a time. Though most songs originated from a guitar or bass riff from Ballou or Newton, all members had equal input on the writing process, with each member proposing different songs. Bannon wrote a few songs for ''Axe to Fall'', but they were scrapped because they were slower than the rest and did not fit the energy of the album. Following a short tour in March 2009 with
Ceremony A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan language, Etruscan origin, via the Latin . Religious and civil ...
, Coliseum, Pulling Teeth, Rise and Fall, Converge entered the studio to begin recording in May 2009. The band had debuted some new material live during the tour. As with several of their previous albums, ''Axe to Fall'' was produced by guitarist Kurt Ballou at his GodCity Studio in
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
. Throughout the recording process, the band updated their fans via Twitter of their progress in the studio. During recording, Converge tried to challenge themselves creatively as artists. Ballou stated that with each new Converge album, he "always
ants Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of ...
to create a new listening-experience", and continued with the concept of "pushing hemselvesforward and not repeating hemselves. Bannon stated, "We appreciate our past albums, but we're very much about forward movement and challenging ourselves musically and expressing ourselves emotionally". Bannon has stated that he felt that the main artistic difference between ''Axe to Fall'' and previous albums was the large number of guest musicians, which included various members from Cave In,
Neurosis Neurosis (: neuroses) is a term mainly used today by followers of Freudian thinking to describe mental disorders caused by past anxiety, often that has been repressed. In recent history, the term has been used to refer to anxiety-related con ...
, and Genghis Tron, among others. Most of the guest-musicians already had an existing relationship with one or more Converge members prior to recording or the band had "admired in some way". Converge had previously thought of the idea of creating a collaborative album with many guest artists for some years, but felt that the "time to execute it adnever been there". Bannon stated that working with a number of different artists was difficult and something that the band was not used to, but the finished product was "an extremely focused album". Though writing did not officially begin until November 2008, work on some songs from ''Axe to Fall'' began four to five years earlier. In 2004, Converge collaborated with Cave in and recorded some songs together. Dubbed the "Verge In" sessions, the material from this period was never released, and the project later dissolved. The instrumental parts that Cave in contributed to the track "Effigy" were from the original recordings in 2004. Converge took the parts they contributed to the project to create the foundation for what would become "Cruel Bloom" and "Wretched World". While producing their album '' Board Up the House'', Ballou gave Genghis Tron a rough mix of "Wretched World" to contribute their talents. According to Ballou, Genghis Tron "embellished it and created a whole new melodic structure on top of the song that we would've never come up with". Brad Fickeisen from the Red Chord also later added his own drum track to "Wretched World". Much of the song "Plagues" from '' No Heroes'' also originated from the "Verge In" sessions. With the release of ''Axe to Fall'', everything Converge contributed to the sessions was finally released in some form.


Musical style and themes

Converge took their music in a more progressive direction with ''Axe to Fall''. Ballou noted that drummer Ben Koller had been listening to more
progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...
over the last few years, and that he tried to complement this sound on the guitar. He went on to say that he was getting the "more straightforward, raw punk aggression out in a yet-to-be-named hardcore side project that I started. So that leaves me free to get weird and progressive with Converge". Ballou considers the band's previous three albums (''
Jane Doe John Doe (male) and Jane Doe (female) are multiple-use placeholder names that are used in the British, Canadian, and American legal systems, when the true name of a person is unknown or is being intentionally concealed. In the context of law ...
'', '' You Fail Me'' and '' No Heroes'') to be a trilogy in regards to their sound, and hoped to push their musical boundaries on ''Axe to Fall''. The tracks on the album have been noted to range from "drone-and-pummel" to atmospheric. Bannon said that this album is "not about being as loud and vicious as possible". Feeling that 40 to 50 minutes of
metallic hardcore Metalcore is a broadly defined fusion genre combining elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk, originating in the 1990s United States and becoming popular in the 2000s. Metalcore typically has aggressive verses and melodic choruses, combined ...
would be difficult for some, Converge used softer tracks, or "slow jams", such as "Damages" and "Wretched World", to take the listener "to some other places". Unlike Converge's previous albums, the songs on ''Axe to Fall'' do not have a central and consistent lyrical theme. Each song was meant to be a "standalone song" about Bannon's life between this album and ''No Heroes''. Bannon has said that he uses his lyrics and Converge to "vent about things in a healthy way so
e's is a Japanese shōnen manga series written and drawn by Satoru Yuiga. It was originally serialized in '' Monthly GFantasy'' from 1997 through 2005, and later published in 16 ''tankōbon'' volumes by Square Enix from March 18, 2003, to Febr ...
not a person that walks around with a lot of negative energy". The opening track "Dark Horse" was written about the passing of a close friend of Bannon, and how he died while trying to succeed as the "
underdog An underdog is a person or group in a competition, usually in sports and creative works, who is largely expected to lose. The party, team, or individual expected to win is called the favorite or wikt:top dog, top dog. In the case where an under ...
".


Artwork

The artwork for the cover and liner note booklet of ''Axe to Fall'' was designed and created by Jacob Bannon. The booklet features a different piece of artwork for each song on the album. Bannon tried to create images that "encapsulated some of the emotion of each song" in contrast to more literal imagery, such as avoiding an axe literally falling for the title track. He also experimented with a technique where a single image would be repeated within a frame, but the copies would be distressed or slightly different. This could be seen in the cover art, where a single image of a woman's profile was broken down within the repetition, and some of the copies showed the woman's teeth through her cheek. Bannon stated that for the cover art, he "just wanted to have something that felt timeless and sort of embodied the whole emotional gamut of the record, something that was explosive and powerful but also something that felt poetic and soft at the same time. It could look violent and beautiful at the same time".


Release and promotion

In August 2009, two months prior to the release of the album, Converge made the opening track "Dark Horse" available for streaming and as a free download. The song was noted for being one of the few tracks lacking guest musicians, and was met with a very positive reaction from reviewers. The title track was also made available for free download in September 2009. The entire album was available for streaming one week before the official release date on Converge's
MySpace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...
page. ''Axe to Fall'' was released on October 19, 2009 (Europe) and October 20, 2009 (USA), by
Epitaph Records Epitaph Records is an American independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. A large portion of the record label, known as Hellcat Records, is owned by Tim Armstrong, frontman of the punk rock band Rancid. Several ...
on CD and
digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Businesses *Digital bank, a form of financial institution *Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) or Digital, a computer company *Digital Research (DR or DRI), a software ...
formats. The
vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...
edition of the album was released through Jacob Bannon's own
independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...
Deathwish Inc., shortly after the release of the CD version. In October 2009, a music video for the album's title track, directed by Craig Murray, was released. The short video (1:40 in duration) shows a man and a woman strapped to a machine, a television that gives birth to a bio-mechanical creature and several disturbing clips in between. The video features
stop motion Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...
animation influenced by horror films, and was referred to as "terrifying", "seizure-inducing", "nightmarish", "excruciating", and "gross". It was filmed in
Ronda Ronda () is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Málaga, within the autonomous community of Andalusia. Its population is about 35,000. Ronda is known for its cliffside location and a deep canyon that ca ...
, Spain with the intent of making "a film in which we see a cycle. This cycle will study an idea of new creation without pleasure and the art of numbing for progression". Murray was inspired and influenced by artists Chris Cunningham,
Gaspar Noé Gaspar Noé (; ; born 27 December 1963) is an Argentine filmmaker, who lives and worked primarily in France. He is one of the primary exponents of New French Extremity, with his most notable works including the feature films '' I Stand Alone'' ...
,
Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN (stylized as NIИ), is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1988. Its members are the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Trent Reznor and his frequent col ...
. and the films '' Ringu'', '' A Clockwork Orange'', and '' Hardware'' while making the music video. On November 7, the "Axe to Fall" video debuted on
MTV2 MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision. The channel launched initially as an all-music ...
's heavy metal music program '' Headbangers Ball''.


Internet leak

On October 4, 2009, a digitally watermarked advance copy of ''Axe to Fall'' was leaked onto the internet. The watermark was linked to the advance copy given to Shaun Hand, a staff member of the music news and reviews website
MetalSucks MetalSucks is an American heavy metal music Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a Music genre, genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock ...
.net. Converge posted a number of Twitter messages regarding the leak, one of which read, "Special thanks to Shaun Hand at Metal Sucks for leaking our album," and another one was posted shortly thereafter directed at MetalSucks' Twitter account stating, "have fun with that". The source of an album leak is rarely discovered or publicly announced. Converge's method of dealing with their album leaking, referred to as "street justice" by Every Time I Die and Jamey Jasta, avoided a costly lawsuit but still inflicted damages upon MetalSucks by means of viral negative publicity. The staff of MetalSucks issued a formal apology stating that the leak was completely unintentional and the first incident since the website's inception. They went on to say:


Touring

Converge's first tour in support of ''Axe to Fall'' was the
Metalocalypse ''Metalocalypse'' is an American Musical film, musical adult animated television series created by Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha for Adult Swim. It premiered on August 6, 2006. The television program centers on the larger-than-life melodic deat ...
tour in late 2009. Alongside
High on Fire High on Fire is an American heavy metal band from Oakland, California, that was formed in 1998. Matt Pike, the band's frontman and founder, also plays guitar for Sleep. High on Fire won the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance with thei ...
, Converge held an opening slot for co-headliners
Mastodon A mastodon, from Ancient Greek μαστός (''mastós''), meaning "breast", and ὀδούς (''odoús'') "tooth", is a member of the genus ''Mammut'' (German for 'mammoth'), which was endemic to North America and lived from the late Miocene to ...
and Dethklok. The band's first headlining tour in support of the album started in April 2010, with Coalesce,
Harvey Milk Harvey Bernard Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978) was an American politician and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Milk was born and raised i ...
, Gaza, Lewd Acts and Black Breath. The first week of the tour also featured
Thursday Thursday is the day of the week between Wednesday and Friday. According to the ISO 8601 international standard, it is the fourth day of the week. In countries which adopt the "Sunday-first" convention, it is the fifth day of the week. Name Th ...
and
Touché Amoré Touché Amoré is an American post-hardcore band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2007. Since 2010, the band has consisted of vocalist Jeremy Bolm, guitarists Clayton Stevens and Nick Steinhardt, bassist Tyler Kirby, and drummer Elliot Ba ...
. Converge began the European leg of their world tour in July 2010 with
Kylesa Kylesa is an American sludge metal band that was formed in Savannah, Georgia. Their music incorporates experimentalism with heavy riffs, Down-tuned guitar, drop-tuned guitars and elements of psychedelic rock. The group was established in 2001 by ...
, Gaza and Kvelertak. For this tour, the band released a limited-edition 7-inch vinyl single called " On My Shield", which was recorded between the US and European legs.


Reception


Critical reception

''Axe to Fall'' was met with positive reviews from critics. On review aggregation website
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, the album holds a score of 77 out of 100 based on ten reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reception. Citing a wider range of styles on the album, many reviewers found ''Axe to Fall'' to be Converge's most accessible album to date. The album features songs like the " doomy ndnoisy" track "Worms Will Feed/Rats Will Feast", the "
synth A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...
-drenched
shoegazing Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with dream pop) is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volum ...
" track "Wretched World", and " Kerry King-admiring" solos on "Reap What You Sow" in addition to hardcore tracks like "Effigy" and "Cutter". Andrew Parks of ''
Decibel The decibel (symbol: dB) is a relative unit of measurement equal to one tenth of a bel (B). It expresses the ratio of two values of a Power, root-power, and field quantities, power or root-power quantity on a logarithmic scale. Two signals whos ...
'' commented on the album's wide range of sounds, stating "it strikes the perfect balance between dry-heaved hardcore – blunt-trauma-tracks that bleed into one another and hover around the 1:40 mark – and
post-metal Post-metal is a music genre rooted in heavy metal music, heavy metal but exploring approaches beyond metal conventions. It emerged in the 1990s with bands such as Neurosis (band), Neurosis and Godflesh, who transformed metal texture (music), te ...
-opusses that embrace Converge's experimental impulses". Juan Diniz of ''Mammoth Press'' noted that the album flowed really well, stating that "every track compliments and balances out the one prior and after. To skip tracks would be foolish as it's a compendium of aggression, frustration, beauty, and brutality," and that the album "demands to be taken in as a whole". Cosmo Lee of
Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered Alternative rock, alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres includin ...
called Converge "this generation's Black Flag", comparing ''Axe to Fall'' to Black Flag's 1984 album '' My War''; Lee noted that Converge combined abrasiveness with "slower, abstract sludge", much like how Black Flag mixed "equal parts lightning and
Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...
" on ''My War''. Several reviewers compared the ''Axe to Fall'' to Converge's highly praised 2001 album, ''
Jane Doe John Doe (male) and Jane Doe (female) are multiple-use placeholder names that are used in the British, Canadian, and American legal systems, when the true name of a person is unknown or is being intentionally concealed. In the context of law ...
''. ''Axe to Fall'' also received some negative criticism. Jared W. Dillon of Sputnikmusic, who had previously given '' No Heroes'' a 4.5 out of 5, gave the album a score of 2.5 out of 5, citing his distaste for the large number of guest musicians. Dillon stated that Converge "seems out of ideas as they enlisted a group of musicians associated with the band to fill in at various points of the record", and rhetorically asked, "why replace the band on a decent portion of their new record with far less talented, less interesting musicians?" He also criticized the album's longer and slower track "Wretched World". When compared to Converge's similar previously released-tracks, (''No Heroes'''s "Grim Heart/Black Rose" and ''Jane Doe'''s "Jane Doe") Dillon claimed that the song "never builds to anything" and "cuts off seemingly just as it should've started". Noel Gardner of Drowned in Sound also found ''Axe to Fall'''s two closing tracks underwhelming and felt that it "would have been a better album for finishing at track 11". Jason Pettigrew of ''
Alternative Press Alternative press may refer to: Individual publications * ''Alternative Press'' (magazine), an American music magazine Alternative journalism * Alternative media ** Alternative media (U.S. political left) ** Alternative media (U.S. political r ...
'' criticized both the lyrics and overall sound of ''Axe to Fall'' as sounding too familiar when it "could've been more alien", and that "in many aspects, Converge took the road most traveled for the majority of ''Axe to Fall''".


Charts and sales

''Axe to Fall'' debuted at number 74 on the ''Billboard'' 200, with 7,400 copies sold in its first week, becoming Converge's highest-charting album in the United States until it was surpassed by 2012's ''
All We Love We Leave Behind ''All We Love We Leave Behind'' is the eighth studio album by American metalcore band Converge (band), Converge. It was released on October 8, 2012, via Epitaph Records. The album did not feature any guest collaborators, unlike the band's previous ...
''. ''Axe to Fall'' also became the first Converge album to not appear on the ''Billboard''
Top Heatseekers The Heatseekers charts were "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales b ...
chart, which ranks the top 50 albums released by bands that have never charted above number 100 on the ''Billboard'' 200. By November 4, 2009, the album had sold 10,487 units. ''Axe to Fall'' also appeared in Canada's '' Chart Magazine'', a weekly chart that compiles airplay data from various Canadian
campus radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...
stations, and peaked at number 42 on their top 50 album chart and number one on their "Metal/Punk" chart.


Accolades

''Axe to Fall'' appeared on several critics' lists of the best albums of 2009. A "—" denotes the publication's list is in no particular order, and ''Axe to Fall'' did not rank numerically. :


Track listing


Personnel

''Axe to Fall'' personnel as listed in CD liner notes. ;Converge * Jacob Bannon – vocals, lyrics *
Kurt Ballou Kurt Ballou (born February 1, 1974) is an American musician and record producer based in Massachusetts, best known as the guitarist for metalcore band Converge and for his recording and production work at his own GodCity Studio. Early and pe ...
– guitars, vocals, piano, glockenspiel, saxophone * Nate Newton – bass, backing vocals * Ben Koller – drums, percussion ;Production and recording * Kurt Ballou – producer, engineer, mixing at GodCity Studios * Alex Garcia-Rivera – drum tech *
Fred Estby Fred Estby (born 14 March 1972) is a Swedish musician. He is best known as the drummer and main songwriter of the Swedish death metal band Dismember. Before he played drums in the band Carnage. Estby appeared in various other projects includin ...
– additional recording * Josh Penner – additional recording * Aslak – additional recording * Jonathan Fuller – additional recording * Jeff Kane – additional recording * Steve Von Till – additional recording * Alan Douches – mastering at West West Side Studios ;Artwork and design * Jacob Bannon – artwork, design and illustrations ;Guest musicians * Sean Martin (ex-
Hatebreed Hatebreed is an American metalcore/ hardcore band from Bridgeport, Connecticut, formed in 1994. The band released its debut album ''Satisfaction Is the Death of Desire'' in 1997, which gave the band a cult following. The band signed to Universa ...
,
Cage A cage is an enclosure often made of mesh, bars, or wires, used to confine, contain or protect something or someone. A cage can serve many purposes, including keeping an animal or person in captivity, capturing an animal or person, and displayi ...
)
– lead guitar, backing vocals on "Reap What You Sow" * George Hirsch (
Blacklisted Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list; if people are on a blacklist, then they are considere ...
)
– backing vocals on "Axe to Fall" * Steve Brodsky ( Cave In) – lead guitar on "Effigy" * Adam McGrath (Cave In) – guitars on "Effigy" * John-Robert Conners (Cave In,
Doomriders Doomriders is an American stoner metal, stoner/sludge metal band from Boston, Massachusetts. The band has released three albums on Deathwish, Inc. The band's vocalist/guitarist Nate Newton (musician), Nate Newton also plays bass in Converge (ban ...
)
– drums on "Effigy" and "Wretched World" * Uffe Cederlund (
Disfear Disfear is a Swedish crust punk band that formed in the early 1990s and recorded sporadically over the years. After releasing the albums '' Soul Scars'' in 1995 and '' Everyday Slaughter'' in 1997, the group did not release another album until 2 ...
, ex- Entombed)
– lead guitar, backing vocals on "Wishing Well" * Tim "Trivikrama Dasa" Cohen ( 108) – lead guitar on "Damages" * John Pettibone (Undertow, Himsa) – backing vocals on "Cutter" *
Steve Von Till Stephen Francis Von Till Jr. is an American musician, best known as the guitarist of the metal band Neurosis (band), Neurosis, in which he also shared lead vocals with former member Scott Kelly (musician), Scott Kelly. Following Kelly's departu ...
(
Neurosis Neurosis (: neuroses) is a term mainly used today by followers of Freudian thinking to describe mental disorders caused by past anxiety, often that has been repressed. In recent history, the term has been used to refer to anxiety-related con ...
)
– lead vocals on "Cruel Bloom" * Aimee Argote (Des Ark) – backing vocals on "Cruel Bloom" * "The Rodeo" – backing vocals on "Cruel Bloom" * Chris Taylor ( Pygmy Lush, Pg. 99) – backing vocals on "Cruel Bloom" * Mookie Singerman ( Genghis Tron) – lead vocals, keyboard on "Wretched World" * Hamilton Jordan (Genghis Tron) – guitars on "Wretched World" * Michael Sochynsky (Genghis Tron) – keyboard on "Wretched World" * Brad Fickeisen ( The Red Chord) – drums on "Wretched World"


Chart performance


References


External links

*
Converge
on
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*
''Axe to Fall''
at
Epitaph Records Epitaph Records is an American independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. A large portion of the record label, known as Hellcat Records, is owned by Tim Armstrong, frontman of the punk rock band Rancid. Several ...

Track By Track: Converge's Axe to Fall with J. Bannon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Axe to Fall 2009 albums Albums produced by Kurt Ballou Albums with cover art by Jacob Bannon Converge (band) albums Epitaph Records albums Deathwish Inc. albums