Music has commonly been referred to as the universal language, and while opinions are opinions and opposing them is futile, there truly is only one musical artist worthy of the moniker “the best”, and that is Salem, Massachusetts-based mathcore outfit, Converge. Featuring four middle-aged men of intense musical prowess who refer to themselves as Jacob Bannon, Kurt Ballou, Nate Newton, and Ben Koller. Now, why exactly is this band the best of all time in my honorable, truthful opinion? Well that’s because they have the greatest selection ever conceived. Their early material spanning from 1994’s Halo in a Haystack to 1998’s When Forever Comes Crashing, the band experimented with sounds ranging from standard hardcore and emo, to sludge and math rock. However, in 2001, the band released the magnum opus of the musical medium, Jane Doe. A record that has changed many lives, including my own, Jane Doe is a journey that opens your third eye and your heart to the wonders of extreme metal music. And after that you can dive into their other releases: You Fail Me, No Heroes, Axe to Fall, All We Love We Leave Behind, The Dusk in Us, and their most recent effort (which is a collaboration effort with goth rocker Chelsea Wolfe), Bloodmoon: I. In fact, three of their releases (Jane Doe, You Fail Me, and Axe to Fall) are the three greatest records ever made, without a shadow of a doubt. The list of god tier songs is near endless as well, and well…here they are (in chronological order by track list per album): “The Saddest Day,” “Forsaken,” “Dead,” “Shingles,” “Color Me Blood Red,” “Love as Arson (Demo Version),” “My Unsaid Everything,” “Conduit,” “When Forever Comes Crashing,” “Year of the Swine,” “Letterbomb,” “Minnesota,” “Concubine,” “Fault and Fracture,” “Distance and Meaning,” “Hell to Pay,” “Homewrecker,” “The Broken Vow,” “Bitter and Then Some,” “Heaven in Her Arms,” “Phoenix in Flight,” “Phoenix in Flames,” “Thaw,” “Jane Doe,” “Downpour,” “Tremor,” “Towing Jehovah (Demo Version),” “Last Light,” “Black Cloud,” “Drop Out,” “Heartless,” “You Fail Me,” “In Her Shadow,” “Eagles Become Vultures,” “Death King,” “In Her Blood,” “Heartache,” “Hellbound,” “Vengeance,” “No Heroes,” “Plagues,” “Grim Heart / Black Rose,” “Lonewolves,” “To the Lions,” “Dark Horse,” “Reap What You Sow,” “Axe to Fall,” “Effigy,” “Worms Will Feed / Rats Will Feast,” “Wishing Well,” “Damages,” “Dead Beat,” “Cutter,” “Slave Driver,” “Cruel Bloom,” “Wretched World,” “Aimless Arrow,” “Trespasses,” “Tender Abuse,” “Sadness Comes Home,” “Empty on the Inside,” “Sparrow’s Fall,” “Glacial Pace,” “Vicious Muse,” “Coral Blue,” “All We Love We Leave Behind,” “Eve,” “A Single Tear,” “Eye of the Quarrel,” “Under Duress,” “I Can Tell You About Pain,” “The Dusk in Us,” “Wildlife,” “Trigger,” “Cannibals,” “Thousands of Miles Between Us,” “Melancholia,” “Blood Moon,” “Viscera of Men,” “Coil,” “Flower Moon,” “Tongues Playing Dead,” “Scorpion’s Sting,” “Daimon,” and “Crimson Stone”.

Yes, I just did that.