[1] Ingram, who was a big fan of Earth Crisis and the burgeoning vegan straight edge scene, relocated to Syracuse, New York on Christmas Day, 1993.
[2] For their part, Steineger and Hilt wanted to establish a new band and had numerous attempts looking for a drummer, and after locating Jim Redd during a show, they were impressed by his musical ability and together formed Breach in January 1994.
[1] Disillusioned by the militant attitude of the Syracuse scene, Ingram went back to Kansas around Easter 1994 and almost immediately auditioned for Breach, writing the lyrics for "Harvest of Maturity" and being accepted to join them.
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.
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.
[3] After Steineger stopped being part of the Hare Krishna movement, Coalesce was offered to work with the Christian label Solid State Records, but they ultimately declined it because of their volatile nature.
Coalesce reformed in 2002 sans Jes Steineger, replacing him with The Esoteric guitarist, Cory White, for a national tour and short recordings.
[3] 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.
During the Philadelphia and Lawrence reunion shows lead singer Sean Ingram announced that the band was going to begin writing new music under a new moniker, but this idea was abandoned.
[3] 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.
Coalesce's music is characterized by odd time signatures, abrasive vocals, sudden changes and angular-dissonant guitars.
[1][16] Most of Coalesce instrumentals and creative direction were started by Jes Steineger, while Sean Ingram wrote all the lyrics and song titles.
[17][18] Coalesce' style originated after Steineger was startled by the technical proficiency of drummer Jim Redd during their first rehearsal, which got him "so scared and finally concluded that now was the time to step up".
[20][21][22] On 2009's Ox and OXEP, Steineger and Nathan Ellis were immersed in Americana music and Spaghetti Western films, and, while maintaining their original style, they included more between-song dynamics, clean singing and yowls.
[1] During their first tours, he learned to use his diaphragm to produce a lower and more powerful vocal delivery, which he started recording since the split EP In Tongues We Speak.
[1] Ingram's lyrics deal with complicated family and intimate relationships, his experiences with death, tragic news stories and cynicism towards the straight edge, hardline and Hare Krishna ideologies which were prominent at the time.
[11] Although the lyrics were initially about his own life and disillusionments, the 1990s hardcore punk scene was highly politicized and some people felt personally attacked, especially members of the militant straight edge branches who even sent death threats to him and the band.
[1][25] In 2000, Ingram cited Phil Anselmo and Karl Buechner as his biggest vocal influences, and Lisa Loeb and Maynard James Keenan as the lyrical ones.
[15][16] Many artists have cited Coalesce as an influence or have expressed their admiration for them, including Norma Jean,[29] Josh Scogin,[30] Every Time I Die,[31] Frank Iero of My Chemical Romance,[1] Ben Weinman of The Dillinger Escape Plan,[1] Tim McIlrath of Rise Against,[32] Cult of Luna,[33] James Hart of Eighteen Visions,[1] Don Clark of Demon Hunter and Training for Utopia,[1] The Ocean,[34] Greg Kubacki of Car Bomb,[35] Knut,[36] Rob Fusco of Most Precious Blood,[37] War from a Harlots Mouth,[38] Chris Tzompanakis of Skycamefalling[39] and Curran Reynolds of Today Is the Day.