Converge have not and probably will not top ‘Jane Doe’ for sheer power and sustained consistency, but that’s not to say that there aren’t total gems to be found on each of the subsequent albums. In the context of a single track on a 7″, ‘Runaway’ certainly does the job, like any song of theirs will do in isolation. The thing is that Converge are an absolute machine that can now do this stuff in its sleep, but this can be a dangerous thing as they end up simply running through the motions. Admittedly, if it’s a formula we’re talking about, they were the ones to lay the blueprint down, and it’s all these jagoff outfits they’ve influenced that have watered it down. The vocals still aren’t very good and the lyrics are business as usual, not-even-sixth-form poetry (‘You stripped my heart of all its parts and gave away the scrap for free’ etc.), and I do have to wonder if this would have made the cut ten years ago, but bitesize chunks of Converge are more often than not welcome to these ears, and it’s over in a couple of minutes anyway.
Dropdead haven’t done anything in the past seven years, and while things sound like they’ve got a bit more polished since those rough as fuck recordings from 1991, the bile and hatred is still brimming over. It’s interesting hearing the juxtaposition between Converge and Dropdead due to the relentless simplicity of the latter, which makes them sound positively Neanderthal (not the band) in comparison. A longer song for them taken in isolation seems to highlight the question of whether this is not one of their stronger efforts or not, but fuck it, bad Dropdead is still good.
Not essential, but kudos to both bands for sticking it out for 20 years.