by JOHNSON CUMMINS

It's no secret that angst is an important rock commodity if you want to move some units, but a quick spin around the radio dial will prove that angst has never rung more hollow than now. That Good Charlotte dude yammering on about not getting the car or some shit like that is just deplorable.

There's no mascara running down the cheeks of You Fail Me, the new CD from Boston, MA's Converge. It's replete with desperation and depression, finishing up with a glimmering note of hope guaranteed to hit you right in the guts, all set to a soundtrack that pushes the limits of blistering hardcore, '80s industrial and Am Rep-era noise.

"I think more and more people are turning to bands in the underground because there's so much music out there that is just devoid of substance," says singer Jake Bannon. "There is nothing in the mainstream that I really like because absolutely none of it speaks to me. What is being called alternative right now isn't at all. When I think alternative, I think of Explosions in the Sky, Negative Approach or the Accused, and it's not like any alternative radio station is going to play them. I can guarantee you that if you tune into an alternative radio station in your area and match that up with the commercial rock station, there will be at least 50 per cent of their playlists overlapping."

Talking to Bannon, one has to wonder where his violent, tonsil-shredding scream is hiding underneath his calm and very polite demeanour. Turns out that sad, not mad, is his operative word.

"I'm definitely a fairly depressed person and I always have been. You write as an outlet and that's what gets you by. I have to really try to not let [depression] affect my life, and having this band as an outlet is a real important thing. I think it is definitely a form of medication because, for me, having 50 minutes of venting on stage is a really powerful thing. It allows me to function, and to contribute to society. With Converge, we are able to offer people hope and touch people, and that is the most flattering thing you can do."

With Between the Buried and Me and Cave-In at l'X on Friday, Sept. 24, 7 p.m., $20

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