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KILLSWITCH ENGAGE: KILLSWITCH ENGAGE
Fewer things die out faster than a trend, just ask Killswitch Engage if you don’t believe me. Ten years ago their style of post-hardcore metal featuring vocals that switch between a scream and a clean voice was all the rage. As the years have passed those bands have either changed their style to fit the times or just given up altogether. A decade after the fight the dust has settled and Killswitch Engage stands pretty much alone, holding onto a title they have put more than enough work into owning.
I suppose it’s fitting that their new album is a self-titled one feeling as it does like Killswitch Engage has come full circle. When they started they were a sloppy, young, and musically naïve group who would endure critical praise, fan love and hate, and the loss and gain of a lead singer. Now Killswitch Engage are older, wiser and simply put better than they’ve ever been. Like the title this new album puts across the message that Killswitch Engage need nothing but their name and their songs. This is an album by a mature band that has gained more experience than they’d probably like to and have funneled it into their songs. Look at this way, this type of metal is not my cup of tea and yet I can fully appreciate just how damn good these songs are.
The album more launches then begins with the song “Never Again” a full on sonic assault that almost dares the listener not to like the new album. Fans and critics are a fickle bunch but Killswitch Engage seem to use this song to scream that they’re returned and everybody else can fuck off. Vocalist Howard Jones has never sounded better and more at ease with his part in the band. His screams are guttural and primitive while his clean vocals are…GASP…catchy. The chorus of “Never Again” is a sing along and I’m pretty sure that’s how the band intended it.
From there the record does nothing but ascend as each song pushes the album into being a great record. The classic metal riffage of “Starting Over” is a gift for the straight headbanger yet it’s married perfectly to the more open chord progressions of the chorus and breakdown. Killswitch Engage used to be guilty of trying too hard, of not letting the song be written naturally by trying to force multiple parts. That aspect is gone replaced with seriously confident song structures. One of my favorite tracks is the Slayer-meets-Killswitch tune “The Forgotten”. You think that Killswitch Engage can be written off or that they’ve sold out by working with producer Brendan O’Brien? Run “The Forgotten” up your tree and see how that theory plays out.
Personally I think working for the first time with an outside producer was a smart choice as Killswitch Engage takes what they do in new directions. The slow and depressing sound in “The Returns” has an almost Cure like quality of oppressive sadness and it’s a vibe I don’t know if the band would have gambled with if not for their new producer. There’s classic Killswitch Engage on here as well such as “A Light In A Darkened World” or “I Would Do Anything” but it’s tempered with experimental angles in songs like “Lost” which is atmospheric and dark as opposed to just heavy. Heavy is easy but real weight is difficult for a band to achieve. Killswitch Engage achieves that weight and they do it with little to no falderal.
There are some misses on the album like “Reckoning” and “This Is Goodbye” (which is a poor choice to end the album) but mainly because those tunes don’t stand up to the other ones not because they’re just straight out bad songs. Killswitch Engage proves without question that the last ten years weren’t a fluke and that the next ten could even more exciting for the band.
