Converge - Hardcore Heroes

Written by Wren Leader

Photos by Ryan Russell

Nate Newton doesn't like to be called a rock star. "When I was young and getting into hardcore," he says, "whenever we thought a band was a bunch of assholes, we called them 'rock stars.'" Even without this negative association, he still doesn't want to be one. To Newton, it's important that there be "no separation between the audience and the band."

This is just one of the many reasons why Boston-based Converge is so well respected not only by the metal/hardcore scene, but also by the music community in general. The band is comprised of normal guys - music fans, who like to play music, and just so happen to have the gift of writing innovative and engaging music.

The band's sound is difficult to get a handle on. If you've never heard Converge, imagine the most structured musical chaos with bursts of bone-chilling vocal pyrotechnics. Dissonant melodies played beautifully at varying tempos allow the listener to become immersed in the anarchy without being overwhelmed by it. This mixture enables Converge to break genre barriers. Bolstering the formula is enough variation to stir their musical mélange and avoid becoming stale and repetitive. Yet, Converge is still very much based in its members' roots of metal and hardcore - another reason why genre purists hold the band in the highest of esteem.

Converge's long history dates back to the winter of 1990 when a group of kids got together to play Slayer riffs and talk about their love of punk and hardcore. Over the next ten years, the group integrated a range of metal, punk, and hardcore influences into its sound. Converge lists such artists as Rorschach, The Accused, and Fugazi, as well as extreme metal bands like Entombed and Godflesh, as major influences. Bassist Nate Newton personally cites Black Flag and Agent Orange as two bands that have been significant in his life.

Even before joining Converge in 1998, Newton found himself bridging the gap of metal and punk. In high school, the bassist was a self-described punk rock guy who frequently jammed with his best friend - a fellow metalhead. "We did Metallica songs and then we would do Ramones songs," Newton admits. With these inspirations in mind, Converge traversed the metalcore genre for ten-plus years with critically acclaimed masterpieces such as Petitioning The Empty Sky and Jane Doe, ushering the band to the forefront of the genre. However, to call Converge a metalcore, metal, or hardcore band does not do them justice. As founding member and vocalist Jacob Bannon puts it, Converge plays aggressive, emotional music - the type that can't easily be slapped with a one-size-fits-all genre label.

Despite their success, the group has remained grounded. The members' philosophy of zero separation between audience and band has helped them maintain connections with both fans and other hardcore artists alike. Converge boasts members coming and going from such well-known groups as Dillinger Escape Plan, Cave In, and Bane.

Although the band recently moved from the independent label Equal Vision Records to the more mainstream punk label Epitaph Records, Converge is still delivering and evolving, as evidenced by their fiercely challenging new record, No Heroes, released in October of 2006.

"We just wanted it to sound like a punk record as opposed to a metal record," Newton says. "We didn't rush through the recording, but we did want to keep a very urgent feel to the way things were played. So, although we wanted good performances, we also left little mistakes in here and there to give it more of a human feel."

While the album is filled with the usual blasts of metal/hardcore ferocity, Converge enjoys experimenting with the music and different ways of pushing themselves musically and stylistically. The album's second track, titled "Hellhounds," features mathy meters and tempo changes, as well as almost Hendrix-esque guitar bends and feedback. "Trophy Scars" features Jacob shouting brutal vocals over periods of light, muted guitar interrupted by bursts of distortion and drums. In "Plagues," Converge explores a slower and more brooding sound reminiscent of sludge metal. The epic and glorious "Grim Heart / Black Rose" offers the listener Jacob's aggressive, but unusually subdued vocals. These new ideas come from the band's wide range of influences and their openness to challenging themselves. As Newton says, "It gets boring just playing the same thing over and over again."

After fifteen fruitful years, Converge's fanbase continues to grow exponentially. No Heroes' critical acclaim won them many spots on various "Best of 2006" lists - not bad for a band already so deep in its history. At a time when many bands falter into mediocrity (if they make it that far at all), Converge have released their best album to date, powerfully reaffirming their staying power and, ultimately, their relevance as makers of compelling new music. At this point, the goals of the band are clear: continue to create music that urges listeners to rethink the blurred boarders between metal, hardcore, and punk. "We are our own worst critics," Newton says. "If we can please ourselves then anyone who listens to us will like it too ... At first I thought 'Maybe one day we can play a show,' then 'Maybe one day we can record a demo,' then 'Maybe one day we can play out of town.' The fact that it has gotten to this point is just amazing to me. It blows my mind that people anywhere are interested in what I do, because all I ever wanted to do was play music with my friends for fun."

www.convergecult.com