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 in the bands Where's Ben? and Bastian, before playing in the grindcore band Force Fed Glass. He started playing for the band in 1997. Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou, who is also a successful producer, recorded an album for Force Fed Glass. Ballou later started a side project called Blue/Green Heart and selected Koller as  his drummer having already been familiar with his talent from Force Fed Glass. Blue/Green Heart only released one demo album, "Self Esteem Through Modern Science". Converge (1999–present). Koller joined Converge in late 1999, replacing John DiGiorgio. Kurt Ballou selected Koller to temporarily fill-in while Converge searched for a more permanent replacement for Bellorado, as he was familiar with his work in previous bands, Force Fed Glass and Blue/Green Heart, a band that Ballou and Koller played in together. After working well with the band during some local shows in Boston, Converge made him an official member . Koller's first studio release with Converge was 2001's "Jane Doe" released through Equal Vision Records. All Pigs Must Die (2009–present). All Pigs Must Die is a heavy metal band composed of Kevin Baker of The Hope Conspiracy and Ben Koller in addition to Adam Wentworth and Matt Woods of Bloodhorse. The former of which is also a part of Acid Tiger. All Pigs Must Die is signed to Nonbeliever Records, an imprint label of Shirts & Destroy. Their debut EP, which was recorded at Ballou's GodCity studios, was released in October 2010. In 2011, they released their  first full-length called "God Is War". Mutoid Man (2012–present). Koller recorded some songs as a two-piece band with Stephen Brodsky of Cave In in mid-2012 under the name Mutoid Man. The project was properly announced in March 2013, and its debut EP, "Helium Head", was released in November 2013 through Magic Bullet Records. Describing the sound of the new project, Brodsky said, "The material picks up from where we left off with the Cave In "Shapeshifter/Dead Already" cassingle, written with Ben in the band. The two of us ran with that sound and formula and took  it as far as we could go." Koller and Brodsky were later joined by bassist Nick Cageao to form a three-piece band, and released their first full-length album "Bleeder" on June 30, 2015 through Sargent House. The band released their second full-length album, "War Moans", in June 2017. Additional projects and contributions. In 2005, Cave In drummer John-Robert Conners left the band after a wrist injury that prevented him from being able to play. Ben Koller became his temporary replacement during Cave In's tour in support of their fourth studio album, "Perfect Pitch Black". Before  the group went on hiatus in 2006, the band recorded two songs with Koller. The two songs, "Dead Already" and "Shapeshifter", were released together on a limited edition cassette single sold during 2005 and 2006 tours. Conners returned to Cave In when they reunited in 2009. Acid Tiger is Koller's psychedelic punk side project with Lukas Previn (The A.K.A.s), Adam Wentworth (Bloodhorse / All Pigs Must Die), and J Rattlesnake. Previn described the band as having, "no plan or guideline for us other than getting our friends in a room and playing all the riffs we had that didn't  work for the other bands we are in." Acid Tiger signed to Deathwish Inc. in July 2009, and released their self-titled debut on April 27, 2010. In 2010, Koller became the temporary touring replacement for John-Robert Conners in his side project Doomriders. He filled in for Killer Be Killed's drummer Dave Elitch for their 2015 Soundwave performance. He later became the full time drummer on July 30, 2015. Koller recorded in 2017 an album with The Armed.