Converge

Converge is an American metalcore band from Salem, Massachusetts, formed by vocalist and artist Jacob Bannon and guitarist and producer Kurt Ballou in Salem. It was with their album Jane Doe that Converge established itself on the international metalcore scene.

The band's "visuals" (album covers, booklets, etc.) are created by singer Jacob Bannon, who also designs those for other bands on his own label Deathwish Inc. such as As I Lay Dying, Killing the Dream, and The Blinding Light. He also began to commercialise his graphic works. Bannon manages another label, Icarus Imprint, on which he releases more experimental material than on DeathWish, the latter being reserved for "effective" hardcore productions.

Each member of the band plays in other formations: Jacob Bannon with his solo project Dear Lover, Kurt Ballou is a producer at his Godcity Studio, Nate Newton with the stoner hardcore band Doomriders as well as the post-hardcore band Old Man Gloom, and finally drummer Ben Koller who performs with Cave In, All Pigs Must Die and more recently in Mutoid Man. The two bands (Cave In and Converge) also have a joint project, Verge-In, bringing together members from both formations.