Coalesce (band)

Formation and early years (1994-1996)

Coalesce formed on January 17, 1994, with Jes Steineger on vocals and guitar, Stacy Hilt on bass, and Jim Redd on drums. Sean Ingram joined the band on vocals in April 1994. The band was first known as Breach, but changed their name to Coalesce to avoid confusion with a Swedish band of the same name.

The band entered West End Studios to record a demo. They showed it to Chapter Records, who had released Ingrams' other band, Restrain. The label issued Coalesce's first 7" EP and distributed it to a majorly straight-edge fanbase (unbeknownst of what Ingram would later say).

The U.K. division of Earache Records was impressed by Coalesce's demo and invited them to record an EP for Earache's 7" series imprint, New Chapter. The EP, titled 002, was recorded in one day and released in 1995. 002 marked the beginning of Coalesce's relationship with Red House Studios and producer Ed Rose, who would record all of Coalesce's following material.

In the summer of 1995, Coalesce embarked on their first U.S. tour to promote 002. They supported the bands Bloodlet and 108. The tour served as a cause of Coalesce's first break-up, as the clashing of personalities had amplified between vocalist Sean Ingram and drummer Jim Redd while on the road. Once Coalesce returned home from the road, Redd convinced the other bandmates to oust Ingram from the band. Sean showed up at band practice to find that James Dewees was auditioning for vocalist. Ingram engaged in a confrontation with drummer Redd, resulting in Coalesce disbanding altogether in March 1996.

In July 1996, guitarist Jes Steineger called Ingram and the two decided to reform the band. Stacy Hilt was included as bassist in the reunion, and included James Dewees as drummer, the same person who had attempted to secure the available vocalist position before Coalesce had broken up; drummer Jim Redd decided not to rejoin the band again because he was attending the University of Maryland in Baltimore, Maryland. This incarnation of the band dusted off some older material and revised it so they could release it on the records A Safe Place 7" on Edison Recordings and the Earache-distributed split EP with grind veterans Napalm Death, entitled In Tongues We Speak. This split was perceived as 'groundbreaking' within the hardcore punk/metalcore community due to the odd pairing of bands, which was beneficial in the sense that the fans of the respective bands would get exposed to two styles of heavy metal that they had never been privy to before. These releases also showcased a marked shift in Sean Ingram's vocal style from a full-voiced shout (typically punctuated by spoken verses) to a much deeper, guttural "bark." This, paired with the group's increasingly complex arrangements, became Coalesce's signature sound.

Give Them Rope and Functioning on Impatience (1997-1998)

In 1997, Coalesce wrote and recorded their first full length, Give Them Rope (released on Edison Recordings), as well as songs for several compilations and split 7" records with The Get Up Kids, Today is the Day, and Converge.

After weeks of performing new material on tour, including a violent show in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Stacy Hilt left the band and was replaced by Nathan Ellis, a guitarist willing to switch to the bass to join one of his favorite bands. Coalesce entered Red House Studios in the spring of 1998 to record the album Functioning on Impatience in three days. Shortly after, Coalesce recorded songs for a split 7" with Boy Sets Fire. Both the full-length and the split record were released that summer.

Coalesce again entered Red House to record There is Nothing New Under the Sun, a one-off release on Hydra Head of Led Zeppelin covers, which was released in late 1998. Coalesce attempted a US tour in support of this record, managing to play the east coast dates with Neurosis, Nile and The Dillinger Escape Plan, but the tour ended abruptly as unresolvable problems with their touring van brought tensions to a head and rendered Coalesce unable to complete the tour. They discarded the van, returned home in a U-Haul and subsequently disbanded once more.

012:Revolution in Just Listening, hiatus and return to touring (1999-2004)

The members recorded their next album, 012:Revolution in Just Listening, in separate sessions from each other. It should be noted that during Revolution's recording process, certain band members of Coalesce were working with other bands: bassist Nathan Ellis started The Casket Lottery with former Coalesce bassist Stacy Hilt, and drummer James DeWees joined The Get Up Kids as their keyboard player and also started his "solo" project Reggie and the Full Effect. Continuing his hands on tradition with the album artwork, a surrealist vision by Sean Ingram was developed into a cover painting by Dan Henk featuring dual conjoined fetus' floating before a mammoth eardrum.

A lineup impervious to breaking up was something that would always elude Coalesce. The usual cause for a Coalesce breakup was either standard in house feuding between band members, lack of money, or intermittent bouts of leaving and rejoining Coalesce due to religious reasons. Coalesce reformed in 2002 sans Jes Steineger, replacing him with The Esoteric guitarist, Cory White, for a national tour and short recordings. Recording for the Punk goes acoustic compilation "Blue Collar Lullaby" as well as a cover of the Jesus Lizard's "Mouth Breather" and an ill conceived cover of Falco's 80's hit "Rock me Amadeus".

Ox and second hiatus (2005-present)

In August 2005, Coalesce was scheduled to play Hellfest in Trenton, New Jersey with original guitarist Jes Steineger and a new drummer, Nathan Richardson, but legal problems prevented the festival from taking place. Having already made travel arrangements, the band performed shows at two smaller venues in Philadelphia and in the Wilkes-Barre area.

The band played what they advertised as their 'final show' in Lawrence, Kansas in September 2005. During the Philadelphia and Lawrence reunion shows lead singer Sean Ingram announced that the band was going to begin writing new music but under a new moniker. However, this idea was abandoned.

On January 3, 2007 lead singer Sean Ingram announced on his personal blog website that Coalesce had recorded 2 new songs on December 28 and 29 at Black Lodge Studios. The songs would be on an upcoming final 7" to be self-released by the band along with a DVD and book in 2007.

On February 9, 2007 Coalesce announced, via MySpace, that they intended to do some touring in August 2007. Possible areas included Europe, Japan and the United States (East Coast).

On March 21, 2007 Ingram announced on the Coalesce website that the release would be titled Salt and Passage. The tracks would be titled "Son of Son of Man" and "I Am This". It was also said that re-recording of the vocal tracks for There is Nothing New Under the Sun were completed for the re-release through Hydra Head Records.

On May 26, 2007 on the official website announcements were made in regards to the upcoming 7" and DVD. Instead of releasing them together they would be released separately. The 7" to be released in a hand screened gatefold cover with limited different colors on September 11, 2007. The DVD will be a collection of as many complete shows that they could get and it is entitled No Business in this Business. The DVD was released in late August to early September.

Coalesce's latest full-length record Ox features 14 songs and was released on June 9, 2009 (North America) and June 15 (international) on Relapse Records. The band has completed a two-week headlining tour of Europe in support of Ox. Furthermore, the band has released a follow-up EP titled OXEP that features seven songs and was released November 10.

On June 18, 2010, Coalesce announced they would be taking a break from making music for a while to focus on their personal lives.

Coalesce reunited at Krazy Fest 2011—a three-day music festival in Louisville, Kentucky in May 2011.

On October 20, 2012 Coalesce played with Converge, Torche and Kvelertak at Granada Theatre in Lawrence, KS.

Current members

Former members

Studio albums

Side projects and trivia