Converge is the greatest hardcore band of all time.

Hear me out– they may not be the most popular hardcore band. That honor belongs to either Hatebreed or one of the myriad scenecore bands that today’s teenagers are fascinated by, depending on how elitist you are. If you’re really an asshole, then it’s Black Flag.

Nevertheless, they ARE popular. When Jane Doe was released on Equal Vision it became one of the symbols of underground hardcore. Frontman Jacob Bannon’s cover art was vaulted into iconic status and has at least as much subcultural currency as the Black Flag bars.

The reason Jane Doe was so immediately lauded was because it was the culmination of all the band had accomplished– most of their early material can be found on the collections Caring & Killing and Unloved & Weeded Out. Some of it may be spotty, but the band was always ferocious, whether they were still just punk kids playing with “leftover Slayer riffs” while Bannon was still trying to find his inimitable delivery or not.

On their 1996 debut for Equal Vision, Petitioning the Empty Sky, the band had begun to carve out a niche for themselves– ever-evolving time signature changes throwing the listener into tightly structured chaos, the band frenetic and pissed. Guitarist Kurt Ballou’s (and, earlier in their career, Aaron Dalbec’s, before he left to focus on Bane) style is instantly recognizable, one minute banging out skronky note runs, then a triumphantly melodic minor chord progression then suddenly veering into an old-school hardcore power chord workout. All of this was a background to Bannon’s nearly inhuman vocals, most of which were passionate readings of his emotionally raw poetry. It was already evident that Converge was a shockingly versatile band– although Bannon rarely calmed down from his heart-rending roar, the band occasionally lapsed into slow melodic sections or even parts that sounded inspired by the twinkly Midwest emo movement that was gaining serious momentum at the time (see the gorgeous anti-climax to “Albatros”).

Two years after Petitioning the Empty Sky, Converge released their follow-up, When Forever Comes Crashing, which cemented their position as musical pioneers in the hardcore scene. They took the style they had practically invented already on Empty Sky and perfected it, expanding on their already critically acclaimed output and ridiculously dedicated fanbase. Converge became the kings of the burgeoning subgenre now known as mathcore– although at the time they were just considered a noisy metalcore band. Artists like Botch, Cave-In, and the Dillinger Escape would take mathcore in bracing new directions, but Converge was unsatisfied with that pigeonhole.

In 2001, Converge released their final album for the Equal Vision label, Jane Doe. Jane Doe was seemingly the musical culmination of everything Converge had been working towards since their earliest self-released work– an apotheosis, improving on even the wildest heights of their previous material. Not only that, but Jane Doe introduced even more new elements for the band to pull from– becoming ever more dynamic, they could volley from noise rock (“Concubine”) to straight up hardcore punk (“Homewrecker”) to layered, groovy rock (“Hell to Pay”) to dreamy shoegaze (“Phoenix in Flight”) back to grinding noise (“Phoenix in Flames”) and concluding with the hardcore version of epic rocking, the grandiose, shifting monster of the title track. It seemed Converge had finally fulfilled their promise.

And even this wasn’t enough for them.

Making the move to much larger indie Epitaph Records and starting with You Fail Me, Converge have steadily improved or at least maintained their absurd consistency with each release. They are THE unstoppable juggernaut of hardcore music, constantly innovating while never betraying themselves or their style. When they finally call it quits, it will be a sad day for hardcore.

Converge are one of the most influential outfits to ever set foot on stage. Aside from being one of the early pioneers of metalcore along with Integrity, they arguably invented mathcore (Keith Huckins notwithstanding) and with Bannon’s record label Deathwish, they have become advocates for many of the most exciting new bands on the scene, from post-hardcore noisemakers Self Defense Family to punishing mosh warriors Harms Way to screamo revival act Touchè Amorè.

It’s safe to say that without Converge, the modern hardcore landscape would be VASTLY different, and probably not for the better. They are the most musically consistent hardcore band and their diehard fanbase appreciates every move they make. Converge are, in this writer’s opinion, the greatest hardcore band of all time.