Words by: Simon Russell-White
Out 13 February, 2026
Via Epitaph
How good is that feeling of excitement when talks start to swirl about a band you love and desire is about to drop a new studio album? From childhood to adulthood, for this reviewer at least, that feeling has never waned, and it never will!
But every now and then, that feeling is elevated simply due to who the band is, and what their stamp is, (and always has been), on heavy and intense music as a whole!
That band is no other than Converge, the almighty, the seasoned, and a band that has a back catalogue that has nothing short of an arsenal of heavy and, (the definition of the word), abrasive albums and tracks! The fact that you clicked on this review is proof and a knowing of what this band from Salem, Massachusetts, has brought to the heavy music table for 35+ years now!
As us Converge fans know well and truly by now, the opening titled track Love Is Not Enough is coupled with one of the most intense strobe effects film clips in modern times, and if your body has managed to re-grow the layer that was removed from your eyes and ears during this ‘2:22 chest pounder‘ then please prepare oneself as you’re in for a real ride from beginning to end on this 11th studio album by the Salem four piece.
Remain in the position you were in for the opener, as the next track Bad Faith will see you in a continuum, Kurt Ballou (Guitarist) opens this one up with a riff that soon detonates into a groove stomp that is fresh and gritty as hell! Jacob Bannon (Singer) screams to ‘yell cleans’ are sensational throughout, but on this track the ‘yell cleans’ really open it up before jerking the listener, (and dancer), back into the aforementioned groove stomp. I have no doubt this track is already huge live!
There’s a tradition that ties in with Converge’s music, and without letting up for one second Distract and Divide literally blasts in. As well as the following track To Feel Something the listener is confronted with pure beautiful chaos, what Ben Koller (Drums) and Nate Newton (Bass/ Backing Vocals) can tie in together rhythmically requires a calculator and a steady amount of patience to figure out. These tracks follow that tradition but rest assured, not one second of this album and its tracks are ‘same same’.
If the words Beyond Repair had a soundtrack that would suit the meaning of the words when coupled together, like the title of the track, then this is it. Plain and simple, Converge has managed yet another moody and timeless piece, I suggest a dark room for this one.
A clear and concise track order has been mapped out for Love Is Not Enough, and though the tempo drops for Amon Amok the intensity does not flail one iota! The dual vocals of Bannon and Newton only add to how angry this track is and dare I say, this track lends a little bit of fellow Massachusetts lads Cave In in a guitar layering sense.
If there’s any cartilage left in your neck then ‘Force Meets Presence’ will be sure to rid that into the pits of your stomach, blood hell, this track has it all, from blasts, stomps to an almost 80s style guitar lick.
For the sake of one’s self-preservation the next track Gilded Cage will be welcome! Clocking in at almost 5 minutes, this is a journey track that manages to spread every shade of black across an already dark canvas. This is a musical painting and will have the hardcore fans satisfied beyond belief.
As we know, Converge has an innate ability to switch moods in their songs by carefully selected notation, Make Me Forget You does just that and like the track before it, it clocks in at almost 5 magical minutes of pure journeyed chaos.
To me, the sign of a great album is one that goes by quickly, this album, Love Is Not Enough does that in spades and requires multiple listens, (for me at least), to truly capture every intricate detail on each track.
Lastly, I love a band that drops late, or in this case, a last track early. It’s ballsy and in a world where attention spans are more distracted than ever it draws attention to the later part of the album. We Were Never the Same slams and is the perfect ender! But anyone who’s listened to it already knows that, but with the complete track order soon in our hands, holy hell!
Thank you Converge for creating another timeless masterpiece, an absolute 10/10 from HEAVY!
