While it has been 5 years since we last got new studio material from Converge, the band has been extremely active with continuous touring as well as tons of output from respective members and their side projects. Frontman Jacob Bannon has been busy with his long festering and finally released project Wear Your Wounds while drummer Ben Koller was busy recording and playing with both Mutoid Man and All Pigs Must Die. Bassist Nate Newton had the double headed beast that was The Ape Of God and a new Doomriders album while guitarist Kurt Ballou was busy recording every cool heavy band in existence, as well as launching a drum sample library and a cool YouTube channel with Newton called DemoVids, which I highly recommend to any and all gear junkies. This newly released 7" caters to fans of Converge both new and old, and greatly displays the contrasting sound the band has honed over the past couple albums.

"I Can Tell You About Pain" is a fast and furious feedback-laden rager that should ease the nerves of anybody worried the band would venture down more experimental pathways. Koller's drumming continues to be an acrobatic yet pummeling assault that matches Ballou's sonic wall of noise and feedback. Did I mention there's a lot of feedback on this song? The ending breakdown is like the troublemaking cousin of You Fail Me jam "Last Light". The aforementioned experimental element has helped Converge diversify itself amongst a legion of bands influenced by their early work.

"Eve" is a 7.5 minute journey that trudges along at a much slower pace than the previous track. Menacing undertones dominate the intro until a creepy Ballou riff leads the song into a tom heavy verse with Bannon's clean and heavily effected vocals. The track shifts from droning to heavily accentuated dissonant chords and Bannon's signature bark before kicking into an upbeat passage of double kick drum and bassist Nate Newton's gruff yet melodic vocals.

While it is still unknown if these tracks will appear on the upcoming LP in a reworked fashion, much like Converge did with the track "Runaway" on their split with Dropdead, more new music is on the horizon. Converge's current tour with Neurosis has produced the debut of a new track entitled "Under Duress", so I anticipate an announcement sooner rather than later. The tour culminates TONIGHT at Union Transfer in Philadelphia and yours truly will be in attendance. The 7" is available for preorder now or at the merch table tonight in a limited band variant, that is if it's not already sold out. Watch the video for "I Can Tell You About Pain" below: