Converge will release their eleventh studio album Love Is Not Enough on 13 February 2026 via Deathwish and Epitaph, marking a significant moment for a band now 35 years into a career that has shaped the sound and ethos of modern heavy music.
Formed in Salem in 1990 by vocalist and visual artist Jacob Bannon and guitarist and producer Kurt Ballou, Converge turned the underground on its axis with a fearless collision of hardcore, punk and metal, delivered with an intensity that shifted expectations for what the genre could express.
Across the decades, Converge have remained steadfast in their approach. The landmark 2001 release Jane Doe hardened their reputation, while later works such as All We Love We Leave Behind in 2012 and The Dusk In Us in 2017 demonstrated a band finding new dimensions in their sound without softening the impact. The 2021 collaboration Bloodmoon: I expanded their palette further, yet Love Is Not Enough offers something notably different, a raw artistic reckoning that places the four core members in sharp focus.
Converge have unveiled the album’s title track Love Is Not Enough, paired with a new music video. Bannon describes the piece as a study in empathy during a turbulent era, a direct response to a world that demands resilience. The song is delivered with emotional weight, leaning into the group’s trademark rhythmic volatility while drawing out a melodic tension that pushes the narrative forward.
The single introduces a record defined by urgency and conviction. Bannon notes that the lyrics question how compassion can endure when society appears increasingly fractured. The performance captures the volatility that has always been central to Converge, driven by Ballou’s searing guitar work, Nate Newton’s barbed bass lines and the precision of Ben Koller, one of the most influential drummers to emerge from the hardcore world.
For Converge, Love Is Not Enough avoids elaborate studio construction in favour of performance. Ballou recorded and mixed the album at God City, his Salem studio, with engineering support from Zach Weeks. The band chose to leave imperfections intact, viewing them as markers of authenticity rather than flaws.
Bannon believes that modern production often dulls the human element, a trend he argues disconnects music from the emotional intent that fuels it. Love Is Not Enough adopts the opposite philosophy. He says the most powerful take is sometimes the one that carries tension and unpredictability, allowing the moment rather than the machinery to dictate the result.
The sequencing of Love Is Not Enough has been deliberately shaped to build momentum. Bannon says the band experimented with many configurations before settling on an order that intensifies throughout the record. Converge have developed a reputation for albums that reward full immersive listening, and this release continues that tradition with a structure designed to accelerate rather than resolve early.
The artwork, created by Bannon, extends the album’s themes. Each track is paired with its own piece of visual design, while the cover depicts a celestial presence observing a world in turmoil. It reinforces the sense of scale and existential struggle that has long defined Converge’s creative language.
The current Converge lineup has remained unchanged since 1999, a rarity for bands with such longevity. Their evolution from early releases such as Halo In A Haystack and Petitioning The Empty Sky into pioneering work on Jane Doe marked them as architects of what would later be called metalcore and mathcore. Their influence runs through generations of artists who view Converge as a blueprint for innovation and uncompromising expression.
Side projects such as Bannon’s Supermachiner, Newton’s long involvement with Old Man Gloom, and Koller’s role in Mutoid Man have expanded the reach of each member. Yet Converge remains the centre of gravity, the project that demands their best work and anchors their careers.
Love Is Not Enough Tracklist
Love Is Not Enough
Bad Faith
Distract And Divide
To Feel Something
Beyond Repair
Amon Amok
Force Meets Presence
Gilded Cage
Make Me Forget You
We Were Never The Same
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