Writing for the album began in 1994 and soon after became a collection of four track recordings, however the project remained inactive for a number of years. When Converge had about six months of down time as the band searched for a drummer, Jacob Bannon and Ryan Parker found the time to resurrect the project. They entered GodCity Studios with Kurt Ballou in the winter of 1999, to take on the piles of old four track tapes they had. During the sessions, Ballou contributed a great deal to the album material both as an engineer and musician. Bannon stated in an interview that many of the songs off Converge's Jane Doe came from Supermachiner, the project was claimed to inspire Jane Doe's experimental side. The songs "Jane Doe" and "Phoenix in Flight" were initially intended for the Supermachiner but Bannon thought "it made sense for Converge to play them."
Release
The original Rise of the Great Machine CD was released by Undecided Records in 2000. In 2004, the album was sold at Converge's You Fail Me 2004 tour, this version of the album was limited to 50 copies. The album was reissued in 2008, released by the E-Vinyl label in France, it was released as a one time pressing as a deluxe double vinyl, limited to 1000 copies.
Rust
Eight years after the release of Rise of the Great Machine, Deathwish Inc. announced the release of Rust, a 30 track double CD that featured remastered versions of the Rise of the Great Machine tracks along with b-sides of forgotten songs and additional audio experiments done by the band. Rust was released on March 16, 2009.
The music was much different than Bannon's band Converge, having more in common with influences Swans, Bauhaus, and others. The lyrical content is built around the rise of technology and the death of the individual.
Track listing
Track 13 "A New Day" is mislabeled "A New Day A New Loss" on the original Undecided Records issue of the album. As a result, track 14, "A New Loss" received the name of track 15 and track 15 received the name of track 16 and so on throughout the track listing, leaving the final track to be titled "Last".
Disc one of Rust is a reissue of Rise of the Great Machine.
