Mp3 of the Week, part one: Converge

DOWNLOAD: Converge, No Heroes album preview (mp3) 

On Converge's No Heroes (Epitaph, October 24), their one-word titles -- "Heartache," "Sacrifice," "Vengeance" -- spell out hardcore's secular jihad: time-bomb youth junked on rage and betrayal, accelerating toward death and glory, hurling themselves at infinity. In fanspeak, the first half of the new disc is more Jane Doe than You Fail Me -- trending uglier, blurrier, and air-raidy. The second half is even better: muscling their way out of chaos, and by a circuitious route, Converge arrive in the neighborhood of the Jesus Lizard and Fugazi. And by inviting Jonah Jenkins to sing the way he hasn't since Only Living Witness, they've produced the only pretty song ("Grim Heart/Black Rose") in the Converge catalogue.

We'll post the title track as soon as Epitaph gives it to us. Soonish!

Meanwhile, mark your calendars: Converge, Some Girls at Club Lido in Revere, December 3.