Throughout Converge’s discography, Ballou has displayed what’s possible for heavy players who seek something beyond bludgeoning riffs-though there’s no shortage of those within his oeuvre, either. “I feel like I understand completely what I want from a guitar perspective these days.”Īrmed with a singular approach to the instrument that flexes with shades of Greg Ginn’s simplicity and aggression, Slayer-informed dissonance and calisthenics, a lethal rhythmic sense, and textured, effects-heavy ambience, Ballou’s unique style boils down his disparate influences to reach far beyond the typical palette of tones and ideas heavy metal and hardcore players often rely upon. While the Boston-bred, metallic-hardcore band’s sound is undeniably a sum of its parts-reliant as much on Newton’s substantially punishing bass work, drummer Ben Koller’s imaginative and dexterous drumming, and frontman Jacob Bannon’s poetic sensibilities and inimitable mixture of pained barks and post-punk-informed monologues-there’s no minimizing the importance Ballou’s guitar plays within that recipe.

“We’re just doing what we want to do and writing the records we want to hear.” This approach keeps Converge from falling prey to the stagnancy that plagues so many of its peers. “None of us are really afraid of taking risks musically at this point,” says Newton. The band’s music showed that the metal-tinged hardcore concept has space for abstraction, textural intrigue, and emotional depth. Ballou and Converge bassist, Nate Newton, also recently unveiled a YouTube channel specifically for gear reviews called“demovids.”įrom seminal albums like Jane Doe and You Fail Me to evolved late-career masterworks like All We Love We Leave Behind, Converge’s approach has always been fearless. There’s some humble irony in his statement, too, considering Ballou’s personal business cards literally double as a PCB (printed circuit board) for a build-your-own distortion pedal which he helped design. However, it’s certainly one that underlines the all-for-one, hardcore-punk ethos that’s fueled the band’s 25-year career. “For me, it’s so much more about doing what it takes to get the song across.” An unexpected statement from the mouth of a player as influential-not to mention athletic-as Converge’s axeman and producer. “It took a long time for me to even identify as a guitar player,” says Kurt Ballou.

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