History
Converge is an American progressive hardcore band from Salem, Massachusetts formed in 1990. The group comprises vocalist Jacob Bannon, guitarist Kurt Ballou, bassist Nate Newton and drummer Ben Koller. Playing a blend of hardcore punk and heavy metal, Converge has helped to define many of the elements of the metalcore genre. According to Allmusic, Converge are "regarded as one of the most original and innovative bands to emerge from the punk underground"
In recent years, Converge have enjoyed relatively high levels of popularity. Their popularity began to rise with the release of their breakthrough album, Jane Doe, the album that was named the number 1 album on Sputnikmusic's "Top 100 Albums of the Decade". During the recording of Jane Doe, longtime member Aaron Dalbec, who was also handling his then-side project Bane, was asked to leave the group. This resulted in a four man line-up that is still intact today. Aaron Burgess of Revolver locates Jane Doe as marking a break in the group's style:
| “ | Converge fans generally fall into two camps: those who worship everything leading up to 2001's Jane Doe, and those who swear by that album and the two that followed. Indeed, Jane Doe marks the point at which Converge graduated from noisy, thrash-influenced hardcore kids to hardcore-influenced noise-thrash titans ... | ” |
Their records have gradually become more expensively and extensively produced, having moved from the independent label Equal Vision Records to the much larger independent punk label Epitaph Records while handling special releases on Bannon's record label, Deathwish Inc. with their latest albums You Fail Me and No Heroes. Converge released Axe to Fall on October 20, 2009. It was leaked on the internet prior to its planned release; Shaun Hand of Metal Sucks has been identified as the source of the leak, which occurred on October 4, 2009. The album received several positive reviews prior to its release, including 10/10 fromDecibel Magazine, and was hailed as the band's best work since Jane Doe.Pitchfork Media writer Cosmo Lee gave the album a rating of 8.5/10 and hailed Converge as "this generation's Black Flag."[12] Jane Doe was inducted into the Rock Sound's Hall of Fame. On January 1, 2012, Converge announced that they had completed writing for their eighth studio album,titled All We Love We Leave Behind. The following day, Kurt Ballou announced plans via his Facebook page to begin recording with the band in January 2012. The album was released on October 9, 2012.
Music Style
The group's musical style consists of complex guitar work and polyrhythmic drumming, as well as frequent use of unorthodox time signatures, leading some to describe the band as mathcore.[17][18][19] [20][21] This is best exemplified on their album Jane Doe. While using hardcore punk as the framework for most of their songs, they also play slower tempo songs, like "Jane Doe", "Hell to Pay", "You Fail Me", "In Her Shadow", "Grim Heart/Black Rose", "Cruel Bloom", "Ten Cents", "Wretched World". Guitarist Kurt Ballou described Converge's first album as "a bunch of hardcore kids playing leftover Slayer riffs". Since then Converge have branched out to explore more complex musical experimentation.
Links
Albums
| Name | Year |
|---|---|
| Halo in a Haystack | 1994 |
| Petitioning the Empty Sky | 1996 |
| When Forever Comes Crashing | 1998 |
| Jane Doe | 2001 |
| You Fail Me | 2004 |
| No Heroes | 2006 |
| Axe to Fall | 2009 |
| All We Love We Leave Behind | 2012 |