Havoc to Wreak Havoc to Wreak is the eighth full-length studio album by New York hardcore punk band Converge. It was released on September 26, 2012 through Epitaph Records in North America and on A389 Recordings in Europe. It is the follow-up to The Broken Machine and the first release since signing with Epitaph, who re-released The Broken Machine in 2009. The title is a reference to the final line of the Bible's Book of Revelation, "So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth" (Revelation 20:11–15). Writing and recording The album was written entirely by vocalist Jacob Bannon, with the exception of a song about his son Gabe, whom he dedicates to those involved with The Hate Music movement, and the track "Untitled Track", which is a poem about a friend's girlfriend. The album is also his first solo effort since his departure from Converge. The album was recorded in one week at producer Kurt Ballou's Godcity Studio, with Bannon and Ballou co-producing the album. In an interview with Spin, Bannon stated that he wanted the album to sound minimal and direct, and that he is not influenced by anything he did in Converge. He also revealed that he wrote most of the album in his head on long road trips, and that the title track is about a woman he knew who was "a really bad person." Artwork and packaging The album cover art features a photograph of an unidentified body which was found in a lake in Detroit, Michigan. The photograph has been modified to add flames at the bottom. In an interview, Bannon revealed that the body was of his friend, who died while high on crack, and that the image was altered to remove identifying details. It is the first time Bannon has used photographic imagery on the album cover. Composition The song "Untitled Track" is a short and slow song that runs for just over a minute and a half. The entire track is entirely sung in Latin, rather than Bannon's usual hardcore style. Drummer Ben Koller played guitar in the studio for the first time, and appears on guitar on "Untitled Track" and "Blind", a song about drug addiction and religion. "Pillars of Eyes" is a three and a half minute song about religion and mental health. The intro is extremely low-key and slowly built up to an explosive breakdown. Bassist Nate Newton played a second bass part on "Pillars of Eyes" and played in a similar style to Greg Fox of The Blood Brothers. "When We Were Helpless" is also about religion and mental health and describes a young man committing suicide. "Untitled Track" is about a woman Bannon knew who was a drug addict and a bad person. He described the writing process as "painful" as she had died recently. "Blind" is about Bannon's ex-girlfriend who had been a heroin addict. She died in 2007, and Bannon describes her as "beautiful, and she had her demons but it's very hard to explain to people that it's not all your fault." Release and promotion The band was featured on the cover of Kerrang! in early 2012, along with "Untitled Track". It was announced on July 13, 2012 that the band would embark on a fall headlining tour alongside Terror and H20. In an interview Bannon revealed that the band will begin recording their next album in the fall. The band were also featured in Kerrang! August issue which sold 2,500 copies and featured the new album's cover art and track listing. The band also appeared in an interview with Kerrang! and performed acoustic versions of new tracks, the title track and "Blind". On August 30, 2012 the band revealed a new song "Black Cord", with the accompanying music video and announced a headlining tour of Europe with The Acacia Strain and Sworn In. The band performed "Where There Is Still Life" and "When We Were Helpless" on SiriusXM's Octane station. The band performed an acoustic version of "Blind" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in February 2013. Reception AllMusic reviewer Tim Sendra gave the album a 3 out of 5, saying "It sounds like the best Converge album in years, but for all the wrong reasons, with the band sounding more desperate than aggressive, if that's even possible." He added that the vocals and Bannon's lyrics "sound like he's suffering from writer's block, the guitars are in disarray, and the album is just barely hanging together by a thread." Track listing Personnel Jacob Bannon - vocals, artwork Nate Newton - bass guitar Kurt Ballou - guitar Ben Koller - drums Charts References Category:2012 albums Category:Converge (band) albums Category:Albums produced by Kurt Ballou Category:Epitaph Records albums Category:A389 Recordings albums Category:Albums with cover art by Jacob Bannon Category:Albums with cover art by John Dyer Baizley