''No Heroes'' is the sixth studio album by American

metalcore Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of ...

band

Converge Converge may refer to: * Converge (band), American hardcore punk band * Converge (Baptist denomination), American national evangelical Baptist body * Limit (mathematics) * Converge ICT, internet service provider in the Philippines *CONVERGE CFD s ...

, released on October 24, 2006 by

Epitaph Records Epitaph Records is an American independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, most acts signed to the label were punk and pop punk acts, while there are many post-hardcore and emo bands ...

. The album was produced by guitarist

Kurt Ballou Kurt Ballou (born February 1, 1974) is an American musician and producer based in Massachusetts, best known as the guitarist for hardcore punk band Converge and for his prolific recording and production work at his own GodCity Studio. Early and ...

, and the artwork was created by vocalist

Jacob Bannon Jacob Bannon (born October 15, 1976) is an American musician who is the vocalist, lyricist and graphic artist for the metalcore band Converge. He is the co-founder and owner of the record label Deathwish Inc. and the author of many visual works ...

. ''No Heroes'' reached number 151 on the ''Billboard'' 200, and also topped the

Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new an ...

chart and reached number 13 on the

Independent Albums The Independent Albums chart (previously titled Top Independent Albums) ranks the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays (EPs) in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by '' Billboard'' maga ...

chart.

Musical style and theme

In early July 2006, Converge's official website announced the album's title of the album, as well as the meaning behind it: "These days, cowards outnumber the heroes, and the begging souls outweigh the calloused hands of the hardest of workers. Both in life and in art, the lack of passion is sickening, and the lust for complacency is poisonous. This album is the artistic antithesis of that sinking world; a thorn in the side of their beast. It's for those who move mountains one day at a time. It's for those who truly understand sacrifice. In our world of enemies, we will walk alone..." In an interview with Alex Gosman of Crossfire, the band talked about the album's theme, or therefore lack of one. When asked about the album's title, the band stated, "It's completely pointless o idolize other people/bands– but that's not the overall theme of the album: just of the 'No Heroes' song. We thought that title would work well for the record too, but it's not a concept album or anything like that; it's still very much a personal record, written about our experiences over the last couple of years."

Release and promotion

''No Heroes'' was released on October 24, 2006 by Epitaph Records, with a music video for the title track, directed by Ryan Zunkley, being released on the same day. Converge's first headlining tour in support of the album started in November 2006 with

Some Girls ''Some Girls'' is the 14th UK and 16th US album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 9 June 1978 by Rolling Stones Records. It was recorded in sessions held between October 1977 and February 1978 at Pathé Marconi Studios in ...

Modern Life Is War Modern Life Is War is an American hardcore punk band formed in Marshalltown, Iowa in 2002. During Modern Life Is War's six-year original run, the band released three full-length albums and one self-titled 7" EP. Despite a growing profile on the u ...

Blacklisted Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, t ...

Kylesa Kylesa is an American heavy metal band that was formed in Savannah, Georgia. Their music incorporates experimentalism with heavy riffs, drop-tuned guitars and elements of psychedelic rock. The group was established in 2001 by the former member ...

, and Gospel.

Critical reception

''No Heroes'' was given a rating 8.1 out of 10 by Brandon Stosuy of

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

, who said, "Conceptually reminiscent of the way

Orthrelm Orthrelm is an American Avant-garde rock, avant-garde band from Washington, D.C. Biography Orthrelm is a duo composed of Mick Barr on guitar and Josh Blair on Drum kit, drums. Their songwriting style is mostly experimental, and shows the influ ...

's ''OV'' rocked socks within a tight framework, ''No Heroes'' is one of the year's most musically cohesive ways to keep pulses beating rapidly." Sam Roudman of

Stylus Magazine ''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog. Addi ...

gave the album a B+ grade, stating, "As Converge have been instrumental in the expansion of the contemporary

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

vocabulary—embracing music signifiers previously under the dominion of

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

grind A blade's grind is its cross-sectional shape in a plane normal to the edge. Grind differs from blade profile, which is the blade's cross-sectional shape in the plane containing the blade's edge and the centre contour of the blade's back (me ...

—this return to roots makes this album something of a homecoming." Notably, ''No Heroes'' received a 4.5 out of 5 from

Sputnikmusic Sputnikmusic is an American music community website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites. The format of the website is unusual in that it includes both professional and amateur c ...

staff reviewer Jared W. Dillon, who said it was "completely successful in delivering a great array of extremely heavy music". However, Nick Butler, another Sputnikmusic staff reviewer, gave the album a rating of 1.5 out of 5, saying, "if ''No Heroes'' isn't the worst album I've heard in 2006, it's certainly the least enjoyable". Despite this being one of the only instances where two of the site's reviewers almost completely disagreed with each other, ''No Heroes'' was later named the best album of 2006 by Sputnikmusic staff.

Track listing

Personnel

Converge *

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

(on "Trophy Scars") *

–

guitars The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, vocals,

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

(on "Plagues"), percussion (on "Trophy Scars") *

Nate Newton Nathaniel Newton (born December 20, 1961) is a former American football guard in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys and Carolina Panthers. He also was a member of the Tampa Bay Bandits of the United States Football League. He p ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, vocals *

Ben Koller Ben Koller (born July 29, 1980) is an American drummer who has played with Converge, Mutoid Man, Killer Be Killed and All Pigs Must Die. He started playing a full drum kit at age 14. Musical career Early bands (1997–1999) Koller played i ...

–

drum kit A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player ( drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsti ...

Production and recording * Kurt Ballou – recording and mixing at GodCity * Converge – production * Alex Garcia-Rivera ( Give Up the Ghost) – drum tech * Nick Zampiello – mastering at New Alliance East Guest musicians * Kevin Baker (

The Hope Conspiracy The Hope Conspiracy is an American hardcore punk band from Boston formed in late 1999. They were picked up by Equal Vision Records and Bridge 9 Records before signing a deal with Deathwish Records. Biography With the help of Mark Thompson of ...

) – backing vocals on "No Heroes", "Hellbound", "Trophy Scars" * John-Robert Conners (

Cave In Cave In is an American rock band that formed in 1995 in Methuen, Massachusetts. The band's lineup solidified with the 1998 release of ''Until Your Heart Stops'' through Hydra Head Records, and their early albums were prominent in the metalcore ...

) – percussion on "Trophy Scars" * Alex Garcia-Rivera (Give Up the Ghost) – percussion on "Trophy Scars" *

Jonah Jenkins Jonah Jay Jenkins (born Jonah Moore, October 6, 1970) is an American vocalist, known for his work with bands such as Only Living Witness, Miltown (band), Miltown, Milligram (band), Milligram, The Northern Skulls and Raw Radar War. Biography Bor ...

(

Only Living Witness Only Living Witness was an American metal band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1989 by members of dissolved thrash metal band Formicide. Across two studio albums, they developed a groove-oriented hardcore punk-influenced heavy metal sound ...

Raw Radar War Raw Radar War is an American hardcore punk band formed in Boston in 2002. Biography Raw Radar War, formerly called Septic Youth Command, was formed by Jonah Jenkins in 2002, after the Milligram's disbanding. The band title, Raw Radar War, is a ...

) – lead vocals on "Grim Heart/Black Rose" * Adam McGrath (Cave In) – lead guitar on "To the Lions" Artwork and design * Jacob Bannon – artwork and design

Chart performance

References

{{Authority control Converge (band) albums 2006 albums Epitaph Records albums Deathwish Inc. albums Albums with cover art by Jacob Bannon