Line #50 Music/Converge


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/converge300_6297.jpg]]
2	[floatboxright:
3	Influences:
4	+Music/{{Slayer}}, Music/{{The Cure\|Band}}, Bad Brains, Music/TheSmiths, Music/BlackFlag, Music/BlackSabbath, Born Against, The Accused, Music/DuranDuran, Music/DepecheMode, Helmet, Music/{{Jawbox}}, Music/FaithNoMore, Music/{{Fugazi}}, Starkweather, Rorschach, Music/TheJesusLizard, Music/{{Neurosis}}
5	]
6	[floatboxright:
7	Related Acts:
8	+Supermachiner (Bannon & Ballou)
9	+Cave In (Koller, also ex-bassist Stephen Brodsky)
10	+Mutoid Man (Koller, Brodsky)
11	+Code Orange (formerly Code Orange Kids; handpicked for label by Bannon, mentored/produced by Ballou)
12	+Old Man Gloom (Newton)
13	+Doomriders (Newton)
14	+FORCEFEDGLASS
15	+Bane (former guitarist Aaron Dalbec)
16	+Jesuit (Nate Newton played in them, alongside future Music/TheDillingerEscapePlan guitarist Brian Benoit)
17	+All Pigs Must Die (Koller)
18	+Wear Your Wounds (Bannon)
19	+United Nations (Koller)
20	+Umbra Vitae (Bannon)
21	]
22	Converge is a {{Metalcore}} band formed in 1990 in Salem, Massachusetts, which has released nine studio albums to date. Considered to be a [[UrExample founding father]] of the genre, the band helped define many facets of metallic hardcore for many bands to come.
23
24	They are well-known for their early and distinctive blend of extreme metal, hardcore punk and noise rock, coupled with the [[CarefulWithThatAxe various]] [[MetalScream vocal]] [[OurBansheesAreLouder stylings]] of Jacob Bannon. As such they have a very distinctive style, albeit one very abrasive and possibly unpleasant to first-time listeners. Despite this, Converge has won a large fanbase and critical acclaim, with Sputnikmusic calling their 2001 album ''Jane Doe'' the [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic best album of the 2000s]].
25
26	'''The band currently consists of:'''
27	* Jacob Bannon (vocals, lyrics, visual art)
28	* Kurt Ballou (guitar, vocals, bass guitar, keyboards, {{theremin}}, saxophone, percussion, recording/production)
29	* Nate Newton (bass guitar, vocals)
30	* Ben Koller (drums, vocals)
31
32	'''Studio albums:'''
33	* ''Halo in a Haystack'' (1994)
34	* ''Petitioning the Empty Sky'' (1996)
35	* ''When Forever Comes Crashing'' (1998)
36	* ''Jane Doe'' (2001)
37	* ''You Fail Me'' (2004)
38	* ''No Heroes'' (2006)
39	* ''Axe to Fall'' (2009)
40	* ''All We Love We Leave Behind'' (2012)
41	* ''The Dusk in Us'' (2017)
42	* ''Bloodmoon: Act I'' (With Music/ChelseaWolfe and others.) (2021)
43	----
44	!!You fail me with every fatal trope:
45
46	* BreakupSong: The entire album ''Jane Doe''.
47	* CarefulWithThatAxe: Arguably the band's most defining characteristic. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNHudI42RQ0 Behold]].
48	* ConceptAlbum: ''Jane Doe'' is sort of one, dealing with the aftermath of a bad relationship.
49	* CoverVersion: "Disintegration" by Music/{{The Cure\|Band}}, "Serial Killer" by Music/{{Violence}}, "Snowblind" by Music/BlackSabbath, "Weinerschnitzel" by Music/{{Descendents}}, "Wolverine Blues" by Music/{{Entombed}}, "Annihilate This Week" by Music/BlackFlag, "Whatever I Do" by Negative Approach and "Clean" by Music/DepecheMode.
50	* CrossReferencedTitle:
51	** "Phoenix in Flight" on ''Jane Doe'' is followed by "Phoenix in Flames".
52	** The first two tracks on ''You Fail Me'' are "First Light" and "Last Light", the former being a 1 minute intro track. Also on the album are two tracks called "In Her Blood" and "In Her Shadow".
53	** The first track on ''Bloodmoon: I'' is called "Blood Moon", the final track is called "Blood Dawn".
54	* DespairEventHorizon: A common theme from ''When Forever Comes Crashing'' and ''Jane Doe'', most prominently featured in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vzbc4mxm430 Hell to Pay]]'':
55	-->[[DrivenToSuicide Cheap lips, soft eyes, lost in the most blinding lights\
56	As cold as those first nights alone\
57	As the second best he'll become\
58	Sleep deep, girl, dream well\
59	That night, I think he cried himself to sleep\
60	Just maybe, he felt more than we could ever know\
61	And I think he pulled that trigger to empty that memory\
62	I think he cut the weight to end the floods of you\
63	Let him soar, let him ride as budding gravestones do\
64	Just sleep, girl, just dream well]]
65	* DiagnosisOfGod: Kurt Ballou mentioned in an interview that he has some aspie tendencies, which he believes explains his obsessive focus.
66	* DoomMetal: "Wretched World", "Coral Blue", and basically all of ''Bloodmoon: Act I''.
67	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: ''Halo in a Haystack'' is much, much simpler and more lo-fi than every album after it. The albums before Ben Koller's joining also sound significantly different than those after (see GrowingTheBeard on the YMMV page), both due to his absence and the comparatively dry, stripped-down production.
68	* EpicRocking: A handful of their songs, including "Grim Heart/Black Rose" (9:34), "The Saddest Day" (7:05), "Wretched World" (7:10), "Homesong" (6:00), "In Her Shadow" (6:25), "The Dusk in Us" (7:23), "Jane Doe" (11:32) and their covers of "Disintegration" (6:45) and "Clean" (6:03)
69	* GriefSong: Lots, "Dark Horse" a particularly well-known example.
70	* {{Grindcore}}: Not really, though it's a very obvious influence on their sound, what with the frequent use of D-beats, blastbeats, Jacob Bannon's high-pitched screaming and numerous [[MinisculeRocking quite short songs]].
71	** Hell, they have even done a split with Music/NapalmDeath!
72	* HarshVocals: Oh ''God'' yes. Jacob Bannon's vocal style is unusually high-pitched and screechy for hardcore punk, and has been compared to that of an angry pterodactyl.
73	* IndecipherableLyrics: It helps to consider any printed lyrics...as more like accompanying poetry than what Jacob is singing.
74	* LastNoteNightmare: The previously mentioned "[[EarRape Phoenix in Flames]]" is one song's worth of this, as it follows the downtempo, almost {{shoegaze}}y "Phoenix in Flight".
75	* LongRunnerLineUp: Since Aaron Dalbec's leaving in 2001, their line-up has remained constant as of 2023.
76	* LoudnessWar: Everything from ''Jane Doe'' onwards is completely brickwalled. This is probably due to the influence of mastering engineer Alan Douches.
77	** Subverted in the vinyl reissues that have come out since 2010. There are a few of the louder areas which suffer some clipping, but that can't really be helped given the nature of the music.
78	* LyricalDissonance: ''Jane Doe'', one of the angriest and most emotionally raw albums of all time, was [[AntiLoveSong written about a nasty breakup]].
79	** Their music in general is amongst the heaviest metalcore gets while their lyrics are comparatively poignant and emotional.
80	* {{Metalcore}}: One of the heaviest bands in the genre, if not ''the'' heaviest.
81	* MetalScream: One of the few Metalcore bands to use Type 3 as [[HellIsThatNoise their main style of singing.]] Type 1 is also sometimes used.
82	* MinisculeRocking: Plenty of their songs. The opening of ''No Heroes'', for example, goes through 5 songs in about 7 minutes.
83	* PerishingAltRockVoice: When he's not screaming, Jacob Bannon's singing voice is like this, and if they have a guest vocalist in the chances are they'll sing like this too.
84	* PostHardcore: Not quite but the genre has an audible influence on the several of the band's albums including ''Petitioning the Empty Sky'', ''All We Love We Leave Behind'', and even a few cuts on ''Jane Doe''
85	** ''The Dusk in Us'' has probably the most blatant post-hardcore influences to date, with several tracks being almost straightforward examples, most notably "A Single Tear" and "Trigger"
86	* ProgressiveMetal: A big influence on the sound of ''Axe to Fall''.
87	* ScaryMusicianHarmlessMusic: Inverted like hell. They look very unassuming, but produce some of the most extreme and harrowing music put to record.
88	* SludgeMetal: As with grindcore and post-hardcore, they aren't a sludge band per se, but it is definitely an influence on their records from ''Jane Doe'' onwards. See the songs "Under Duress", "Jane Doe", "Empty on the Inside", "Plagues", "Worms Will Feed/Rats Will Feast", "Damages", "Predatory Glow", and "Glacial Pace"
89	** It was definitely a major influence on the sound of ''Axe to Fall''
90	** They appear to be diving into this genre fully with ''Bloodmoon: I''
91	* SoloSideProject: The list of side projects various Converge members have been involved in is as long as your arm, and several of them (namely Old Man Gloom, All Pigs Must Die, and Mutoid Man) are bonafide supergroups.
92	* SopranoAndGravel: Most of Converge's vocals are Jacob Bannon's tortured screams, but he throws in occasional singing as well (see "Phoenix in Flight" and "Jane Doe" for examples). If there are guest vocalists, they will also frequently provide a Soprano to Bannon's Gravel.
93	* SurprisinglyGentleSong: At least [[OnceAnEpisode once an album]]. "Ten Cents" on ''When Forever Comes Crashing'', "Phoenix in Flight" on ''Jane Doe'' (and, at a push, "Hell to Pay" as well), "First Light" and "In Her Shadow" on ''You Fail Me'', "Grim Heart/Black Rose" on ''No Heroes'' (although the very end is fairly heavy), "Cruel Bloom" and "Wretched World" on ''Axe to Fall'', "Precipice/All We Love We Leave Behind" on ''All We Love We Leave Behind'' and "The Dusk in Us" and "Thousands of Miles Between Us" on ''The Dusk in Us''. "Phoenix in Flight" subverts it with its coda "Phoenix in Flames" (see LastNoteNightmare above).
94	* TextlessAlbumCover: ''All We Love We Leave Behind'' and all of their split [=EPs=].
95	* ThreeChordsAndTheTruth: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]- the raw, unrefined and driving sound made them famous, but they base a lot of their songs on polyrhythmic drumming and complex guitar work.
96	* TitleTrack: On every album from ''When Forever Comes Crashing'' onwards.
97	* TropeCodifier: For metallic hardcore, and arguably mathcore as well.
98	* UncommonTime: Their frenetic time signature changes laid the groundwork for what would later be called mathcore.
99	* VanityPublishing: Deathwish Inc., Jacob Bannon's record label, has been accused of this. It's hardly surprising that some of their earliest releases were his solo projects, and they have a history of signing their local buddies (namely The Hope Conspiracy, Music/TrapThem, and Backstabbers Incorporated) as well.
100	* VocalEvolution: Jacob Bannon's signature "velociraptor screech" has gotten more phlegmy and slightly lower pitched as time has gone on, likely due to strain caused by the difficulty innate in executing them.

Context Music / Converge