Converge to hit the road with Mastodon!

CONVERGE TAKES NO HEROES ON THE ROAD
Amid Weighty Praise, U.S. Tour with Mastodon Resumes January 26th

Converge "the iconic Boston-based pioneers of metalcore" will embark on the third leg of its U.S. trek in support of its recent Epitaph full length No Heroes on January 26th in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The four week East Coast trek will wrap in Norfolk, VA on February 18th.

Praising the esteemed foursome, Alternative Press wrote, "Converge play like sadists forcing their gear through table saws". They've made it impossible for anyone else to eclipse them. Elsewhere, Decibel called No Heroes "their most balanced album yet" proclaiming, "Converge have fully returned to the aggressive sound they pioneered." And hard rock bible Kerrang! championed the group as "the perfect antidote" to "singalong, chirpy, radio-friendly rock."

"We don't really do lighthearted," frontman Jake Bannon says in a recent issue of the latter. "We're a different kind of animal. There's an energy and violent nature to these songs. We're always going to make that high volume, highly emotional music. It's hardcore metal, man."

Steeped in raw emotion, pure adrenaline and brute force, the follow up to 2004's You Fail Me was produced by Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou, who doubles as a producer and engineer, and counts explosive numbers like "Heartache", "Hellbound", "Grim Heart Black Rose" and "Trophy Scars" among its fourteen tracks. As inventive as they are discordant, the cult group (which also counts bassist Nate Newton and drummer Ben Koller) has been touted by All Music Guide as "one of the most original and innovative bands to emerge from the punk underground."
With most of the songs on No Heroes tracked in their entirety in just one or two takes, Converge has captured its ferocious, urgent sound undiluted. "What we do is very different than what's happening in the mainstream," Bannon says. "I think we're a weird amalgamation of stuff that doesn't really exist anymore that's somewhere between the thrash world, the hardcore world, the punk world and the alt-rock world. We just went and did our thing on this record rather than try to make a name for ourselves or dilute our approach." From Bannon's captivating artwork and introspective lyrics to Ballou's masterful production techniques, Converge's artistic vision has always separated the band from their peers, and No Heroes is no exception. "A lot of the bands that people consider to be our contemporaries don't share that attention to detail," Ballou admits. "With us, everything is carefully crafted and intentional, which is kind of ironic considering to a lot of people our music is just a wall of noise," he continues. "I think a lot of what exists now is just decoration and we're simply not decoration. "No Heroes, which dropped on October 24th via Epitaph, debuted at #1 on Billboard's Top New Artist (Heatseekers) survey.
Here are Converge's upcoming tour dates with Mastodon:

1/26/2007 Culture Room Ft. Lauderdale FL
1/27/2007 House of Blues Lake Buena Vista FL
1/28/2007 Jannus Landing St. Petersburg FL
1/30/2007 Beta Bar Tallahassee FL
1/31/2007 40 Watt Club Athens GA
2/1/2007 Blue Cats Knoxville TN
2/2/2007 Rocketown Nashville TN
2/3/2007 Pops Sauget IL
2/5/2007 First Avenue Minneapolis MN
2/7/2007 Orbit Room Grand Rapids MI
2/8/2007 Newport Music Hall Columbus OH
2/9/2007 Rex Theatre Pittsburgh PA
2/10/2007 Starland Ballroom Sayerville NJ
2/11/2007 Lupos Heartbreak Hotel Providence RI
2/13/2007 Crocodile Rock Allentown PA
2/14/2007 Water Street Music Hall Rochester NY
2/15/2007 Northern Lights Clifton Park NY
2/16/2007 Toads Place New Haven CT
2/17/2007 9:30 Club Washington DC
2/18/2007 The Norva Theater Norfolk VA