Petitioning the Empty Sky

Petitioning the Empty Sky is an album by American metalcore band Converge. While many sources catalog the release as a studio album, the band considers this a compilation album as it's a collection of songs recorded at different times.[3] While tracklists differ between releases, this album features studio recorded tracks along with live recordings of three songs. Petitioning the Empty Sky was released and distributed through several different labels beginning in the mid 90s.

Petitioning the Empty Sky
Studio album / compilation album by Converge
Released	1996 (EP and CD) January 20, 1998 (reissue) March 22, 2005 (remaster)
Recorded	1995, 1997 (reissue bonus tracks)
Studio	Salad Days, Boston, Massachusetts West Sound, Londonderry, New Hampshire The Outpost, Stoughton, Massachusetts
Genre	Metalcore[1] hardcore punk[2]
Length	14:19 (EP) 29:00 (CD) 42:58 (reissue) 47:00 (remaster)
Label	Ferret Equal Vision
Producer	Brian McTernan Mike West
Converge chronology
Caring and Killing (1995) Petitioning the Empty Sky (1996) When Forever Comes Crashing (1998)
Alternative cover
2005 remaster artwork by Aaron Turner.

Release

Petitioning the Empty Sky was originally released through Ferret Music in 1996 and was also one of the earliest albums released through the newly formed label.[4] This early version was a 7" EP featuring only the first four tracks of the eventual full-length.[5] Later that same year the record was re-released with four new tracks added to it. Two years later, the album was reissued through Converge's new label Equal Vision Records as EVR040 on January 20, 1998.[6] The full length reissue contained three live tracks ("For You," "Homesong," and "Antithesis") recorded during a radio broadcast, three newly recorded tracks ("Buried But Breathing," "Farewell Note to This City," and "Color Me Blood Red") and one track ("Shingles") that was recorded along with the original four tracks, but were unreleased.

Shortly after the release of Converge's 2004 album You Fail Me through Epitaph Records, Equal Vision reissued remasters of Petitioning the Empty Sky and When Forever Comes Crashing. The updated version of Petitioning the Empty Sky featured new artwork from Isis frontman Aaron Turner, production work from Converge's Kurt Ballou in addition to Mike Poorman and Alan Douches, and an alternate version of "Love As Arson" as a bonus track. The liner notes also contain the first half of an essay written by the "Aggressive Tendencies" columnist and editor of the Canadian online magazine Exclaim!, Chris Gramlich.[4][5][7] The second part of the essay is continued in When Forever Comes Crashing. The remaster was Equal Vision's EVR109 released on March 22, 2005.[8]

In 2006, Jacob Bannon's Deathwish Inc. released a vinyl box set collection for the remasters of Petitioning the Empty Sky and When Forever Comes Crashing in a package dubbed Petitioning Forever.[9] Due to the physical limitations of a vinyl LP, a single 12" record cannot hold all of the songs from the remaster. The three live tracks were released separately with the first pressing on a 7" vinyl with its own artwork based on box set packaging.[10] The box set was Deathwish's DWI47,[11] and the separate vinyl was cataloged as DWLIMITED04.[10]

Song history

Studio recordings of the live tracks "For You" and "Homesong" were originally released on the Unloved and Weeded Out 7" EP in 1995. The full length compilation version of Unloved and Weeded Out was later released in 2002 through Deathwish and also featured these two songs. The studio recording of "Antithesis" could originally be found on Converge's debut album Halo in a Haystack in 1994, and later on the compilation album Caring and Killing released in 1997. The song "Dead" was rerecorded from the version on Caring and Killing, which was recorded in 1994/1995. The original version of "Love As Arson" was released on When Forever Comes Crashing in 1998.

Tracks nine through eleven - "For You", "Antithesis" and "Homesong" - were recorded live during a performance on radio station WJUL, run by college students at UMass Lowell. A notable moment on the live track "Homesong" is when a band member breaks a guitar string and pauses the song, and bleeding singer Jacob Bannon claims to have "hit my head on a mic stand" and that it will "make us look punk." The original CD release on Ferret Music features "Homesong" as a hidden/untitled song following "Antithesis".

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
AntiMusic.com	[12]
LambGoat	(9/10)[13]
Prefix	(9/10)[5]

Allmusic critic Blake Butler wrote: "Converge can break multiple bones throughout the body with sound alone, assaulting with beautiful metal riffs, throat-ripping screams, and aggressive smashing percussion."[2]

Track listings

All lyrics are written by Jacob Bannon; all music is composed by Converge[4].

Ferret Music 7" EP (1996)[5]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Saddest Day"	7:05
2.	"Forsaken"	2:20
3.	"Albatross"	1:49
4.	"Dead"	3:05

Ferret Music CD (1996)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Saddest Day"	7:05
2.	"Forsaken"	2:20
3.	"Albatross"	1:49
4.	"Dead"	3:05
5.	"Shingles"	4:13
6.	"Buried But Breathing"	1:11
7.	"Farewell Note to This City"	5:20
8.	"Color Me Blood Red"	3:57

Equal Vision Records reissue CD/LP (1998)[2]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Saddest Day"	7:05
2.	"Forsaken"	2:20
3.	"Albatross"	1:49
4.	"Dead"	3:05
5.	"Shingles"	4:13
6.	"Buried But Breathing"	1:11
7.	"Farewell Note to This City"	5:20
8.	"Color Me Blood Red"	3:57
9.	"For You / Antithesis" (live)	8:23
10.	"Homesong" (live)	6:51

Equal Vision Records remaster CD (2005)[4]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Saddest Day"	7:05
2.	"Forsaken"	2:20
3.	"Albatross"	1:49
4.	"Dead"	3:05
5.	"Shingles"	4:13
6.	"Buried But Breathing"	1:11
7.	"Farewell Note to This City"	5:20
8.	"Color Me Blood Red"	3:57
9.	"For You" (live)	2:44
10.	"Antithesis" (live)	5:39
11.	"Homesong" (live)	7:06
12.	"Love As Arson" (alternate version)	3:02

Deathwish Inc. Petitioning Forever LP set (2006)[10][11]

No.	Title	Vinyl side	Length
1.	"The Saddest Day"	Side A	7:05
2.	"Forsaken"	Side A	2:20
3.	"Albatross"	Side A	1:49
4.	"Dead"	Side A	3:05
5.	"Shingles"	Side A	4:13
6.	"Buried But Breathing"	Side B	1:11
7.	"Farewell Note to This City"	Side B	5:20
8.	"Color Me Blood Red"	Side B	3:57
9.	"Love As Arson" (alternate version)	Side B	3:02
10.	"For You" (live)	Side E	2:44
11.	"Antithesis" (live)	Side E	5:39
12.	"Homesong" (live)	Side F	7:06

Personnel

Converge[4] Jacob Bannon – vocals Kurt Ballou – guitar, backing vocals, bass guitar (track 1) Aaron Dalbec – guitar (tracks 2, 3, 5, 7, 9–11) Jeff Feinburg – bass guitar Stephen Brodsky – bass guitar (track 12) Damon Bellorado – drums Original production[14] Brian McTernan – producer, engineer, mixing Mike West – engineer Original artwork and design[14] Jacob Bannon – artwork, design Mark Lickosky – photography, video stills Patrick Santini – photography Aaron Turner – artwork, paintings Erik Zimmerman – photography

Recording history[4] Tracks 1–5 recorded by Brian McTernan at Salad Days studio in October 1995 Tracks 6–8 recorded by Mike West at West Sound in February 1996 Tracks 9–11 recorded live on the air at WJUL in August 1995 Track 12 recorded by Jim Siegel at The Outpost in May 1997 Remaster production (tracks 1–8, 12)[4] Kurt Ballou – mixing at GodCity Studios in July 2004 Mike Poorman – assistant mix engineering Alan Douches – mastering at West West Side Music Remaster artwork and design[4] Jacob Bannon – design Chris Boart – photography Danielle Dombrowski – photography High Roller Studios – enhanced video Nataija Kent – photography Mark Lickosky – video still Aaron Turner – artwork

References

1. "Converge - Petitioning The Empty Sky review | Lambgoat". lambgoat.com. Retrieved 2017-04-08.
2. Butler, Blake. "Petitioning the Empty Sky – Overview". Allmusic. Retrieved August 4, 2010.
3. Bennett, J. (December 2009). "A Cut Above". Decibel. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Red Flag Media Inc. (62): 69–74. ISSN 1557-2137. Archived from the original on February 11, 2010. Retrieved August 1, 2010.
4. Gramlich, Chris (2005). "Waiting on Forever: Part I". Petitioning the Empty Sky (Reissue) (CD booklet). Converge. Albany, New York: Equal Vision Records. EVR109.
5. Hughes, Josiah (January 1, 2002). "Review: Petitioning the Empty Sky / When Forever Comes Crashing". Prefix. Retrieved August 3, 2010.
6. "Converge: Petitioning the Empty Sky". Equal Vision Records. Archived from the original on September 21, 2010. Retrieved August 1, 2010.
7. "About Us". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on August 4, 2010. Retrieved August 3, 2010.
8. "Converge: Petitioning the Empty Sky (reissue)". Equal Vision Records. Archived from the original on September 21, 2010. Retrieved August 1, 2010.
9. "Petitioning Forever – Overview". Allmusic. Retrieved August 1, 2010.
10. "Converge: 'DW Limited Petitioning Forever Bonus 7" EP'". Deathwish Inc. Archived from the original on March 13, 2010. Retrieved August 4, 2010.
11. "Converge: Petitioning Forever". Deathwish Inc. Archived from the original on September 26, 2011. Retrieved August 4, 2010.
12. Hensch, Mark. "Review: Petitioning the Empty Sky". AntiMusic.com. Retrieved August 3, 2010.
13. Mond, Mustapha (February 4, 2010). "Review: Petitioning The Empty Sky". LambGoat. Retrieved August 4, 2010.
14. Butler, Blake. "Petitioning the Empty Sky – Credits". Allmusic. Retrieved August 3, 2010.

External links

• Petitioning the Empty Sky stream at MySpace
• Petitioning the Empty Sky catalog at Discogs
• Petitioning the Empty Sky catalog at Rate Your Music