HEAVY MUSIC HISTORY: Jane Doe – Converge
It’s difficult – pointless even – to talk about music in objective terms, but when it comes to the greatest metalcore record of all time, you won’t hear many arguments against Jane Doe by CONVERGE. There are other contenders of course, but few records, if any, enjoy such widespread influence, critical acclaim and cult-like adoration as the Massachusetts metallic hardcore legends’ fourth full-length. Masterful in its craft, uncompromising in its savagery, and uninterested in any notion of boundaries, the record feels just as fresh, fierce and fearless today as it did when it was first let loose on the world a full two decades ago.
Jane Doe emerged at an interesting time for heavy music. Back in 2001, many eyes were still on an increasingly oversaturated nu-metal scene, but there was something arguably far more exciting happening in the relative periphery of metalcore. In the space of just a few years, bands like POISON THE WELL, CAVE IN, BOTCH and THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN had all thrown down the gauntlet with their varied and visionary takes on the genre. CONVERGE themselves had started to make their own waves, particularly with Jane’s 1996 predecessor Petitioning The Empty Sky. Eleven years into their career, it’s safe to say the bar was pretty high, and it was about to get a whole lot higher.
To those hitting play on the record back in 2001, it would’ve been clear in a matter of seconds that CONVERGE weren’t messing around with Jane Doe. From The Saddest Day to Dark Horse, the band have always known their way around a raging album opener, but no track goes quite for the jugular like Concubine. The longstanding setlist staple allows for just a few moments of dissonant guitar tapping before launching headlong into its scorching 89-second runtime. What follows is some of the most ferocious metallic hardcore ever put to tape – a vicious statement of intent that tears from chaotic riffing to hair-raising blast beats to a pummelling breakdown in just a few short breaths. Frontman Jake Bannon’s vocals are utterly excoriating, his lament of lost love manifesting itself in a series of unintelligible tortured screams.
Bannon’s anguish is a central theme of the record, and surely one of its most compelling features. Reflecting on the album in 2004, he explained: “We started writing Jane when I was at a really turbulent time in my life and when we just entered the studio my life was just sort of imploding and exploding on me. All of a sudden the foundation of all that I had for five years was completely gone.” It’s this pain which fuels an inimitable performance on Jane Doe, one dripping with a consistent abrasive passion that lends the record a mountain of emotional weight.
Shine though he may, it would be unfair to focus on Bannon alone when Jane Doe is a record in which the sum of great parts adds to something greater still. It’s the then newly-recruited drummer Ben Koller injecting the band with a renewed vigour, while also bringing command and control to the chaos. It’s bassist Nate Newton making his presence known with a crunchy, rumbling low-end on tracks like Hell To Pay and Heaven In Her Arms. Crucially, it’s co-founder, guitarist and principal songwriter Kurt Ballou setting his sights on establishing a clear sonic identity for the band, and writing more collaboratively with his bandmates for the first time. All this and more turned CONVERGE into a crushing, cohesive whole on Jane Doe, with the album cementing a line-up (minus the outgoing Aaron Dalbec) that has remained unchanged ever since.
Like many classic records, Jane Doe is best taken in in one sitting. From start to finish, its every detail feels considered and crafted so that it flows – and sometimes jars – perfectly. Yes, there’s the obvious metalcore mastery of tracks like Homewrecker and Heaven In Her Arms, but there’s also a lot more to it than that. Think of the grinding ferocity of the aforementioned opener, or Fault And Fracture which follows it; or the demented flashes of noise rock on tracks like Hell To Pay and Thaw. Think too of the fleeting moments of melody heard in the likes of The Broken Vow and Phoenix In Flight, and how the latter juxtaposes strikingly with the rabid drums and vocals of its 42-second counterpart, Phoenix In Flames. And then there’s the title track – a towering 11-and-a-half-minute epic that brings the record to a devastating and cathartic conclusion.
Of course, all this came packaged in one of the most iconic album covers in the history of heavy music. Designed by Bannon, like much of CONVERGE’s artwork, the cold, titular figure shrouded in shadows on the front of Jane Doe isn’t based on any particular model, but soon became perhaps the most recognisable face in the whole of metalcore. Serving as an icon for the band ever since, just try going to a metal or hardcore show today without encountering her face on any number of tattoos, hoodies, t-shirts, or any other merch item she’ll fit on.
Upon its release, it was instantly clear that Jane Doe was something special, with the record drawing praise from fans and critics across the board. At the end of 2001, it was named album of the year by Terrorizer, beating out similarly adored classics from bands like OPETH and TOOL. Since then, it’s been crowned the number one album of the 2000s by the likes of Decibel, Noisecreep, and even the more broadly focused Sputnikmusic, as well as recently being named the best metalcore album of all time by Loudwire. In 2004, it would land the band a long-standing and highly fruitful deal with Epitaph Records, and would later be immortalised in live form when performed in full at Roadburn Festival in 2016.
More than all these accolades though, what makes this record so significant is just how much it means to so many people. Whether it’s the album’s breathtaking savagery, its limitless creativity, its emotional resonance, or something else entirely, Jane Doe has earned its place in the hearts of metal and hardcore fans the world over, and it hasn’t aged a day.
Jane Doe was originally released on September 4th 2001 via Equal Vision Records.
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