Like Isis' Oceanic and Celestial, Christmas is filled with peaks and valleys, instances of harsh noise-core followed by ambient mood pieces. While Christmas is, much like Isis� later recordings, a deeply layered album, it�s also direct. But that�s not to say the members of Converge and Cave In have no say in Christmas. Their influences are apparent in the songwriting itself. The tracks are more focused, giving the album a greater effect and mood. There are no semi-realized tracks, and there is no filler.

As barren as it is busy, Christmas is a sonic abomination crooked with distortion, sublime heaviness, and most importantly, a child-like adoration of our simian brethren. And unlike the holiday, your presents are bits of twitchy sludge and jittery soundscapes that are both full of climactic head-swelling moments and end-of-life drones. Watch the sunset, get bombarded by hail. Smell the flowers, get gang raped. It's a sick system. If none of this interests you, the booklet is the funniest thing you'll read all year.

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