July 4, 2000 - Killswitch Engage and Killswitch Engage

A week after my last release a new band joins my library when Killswitch Engage released their debut album "Killswitch Engage" on July 4, 2000. But who is Killswitch Engage? They are a four-piece band from Westfield, Massachusetts and are one of the first bands to embark in a new genre called metalcore. They consist of lead singer Jesse Leach, guitarist Joel Stroetzel, bassist Mike D'Antonio and drummer Adam Dutkiewicz. Metalcore features the heaviness you'd expect from a metal band and while Leach sings and screams, he is mainly doing harsh vocals. Sounds good to me, let's see what Killswitch Engage is all about!

The album kicks off with "Temple From The Within" and they dive right into the main riff led by some cool, super heavy guitar by Stroetzel and Leach is screaming right from the get go. Leach screams pretty high at first, but also hits some fairly low notes as well and he seems like a pretty sweet metal singer! He even mixes in bits of singing, and his singing voice is decent but nothing too amazing, but he is screaming most of the time, and he sounds really great, especially when he hits those high screams! D'Antonio sets the stage for a nice breakdown and Stroetzel follows with some nice low guitar. Things eventually fade out to finish things off and this was a prett sweet introduction to metalcore! Up next is "Vide Infra" and it's even faster than the last song as they fire right into a fast-paced main riff with some almost thrash-y guitar from Stroetzel. Leach screams a nice verse to match the fast pace and once again his low screams are good for sure, but those high ones sound really heavy and awesome! Dutkiewicz and D'Antonio provide an awesome, super fast rhythm section and this just might be one of the heaviest songs in my library so far! They slow things down briefly midway through and Leach sings a short, quiet part, and it makes the thunderous return to the heavy music sound pretty sweet. There is a ton of cool guitar and great screaming vocals on this track, and Killswitch are definitely distancing themselves from the pack so far! Track 3 is "Irreversal" and everyone is sounding pretty awesome once again! Words don't do proper justice to yet another fast-paced and super heavy main riff. The drums are so fast and yet so perfectly tight, there is a bunch of wicked, heavy guitars and Leach is a pretty awesome frontman, hitting both extremes of the spectrum, holding the lows and the highs for good long screams, and doing everything inbetween as well. After a couple awesome rounds we hear some acoustic guitar in a very unexpected shift and Leach sings a soft verse to match this new mood. It's definitely simpler and slower, but it's a nice break-up before they finish things off with a wonderfully heavy closing riff and Leach continues to hold his final scream for several seconds after the music stops, and that sounds pretty fucking heavy! I love it so much! The next track is "Rusted Embrace" and Stroetzel leads the way with a pretty catchy main guitar riff that is still plenty heavy and Leach does a wonderful job again of screaming, singing and showcasing a bit of everything! Things really slow down in the chorus as D'Antonio plays some great low bass and after the next round they break things down even further! This breakdown is even slower, heavier, and chuggier and everything sounds so fucking heavy! These guys do not let up at all! Another very, very above average song in this wonderfully heavy new genre! Track 5 is "Prelude" and as the name suggests it's a short track that leads into the next one. It's instrumental as well and Stroetzel carries this short song with some nice chugging guitars. It's a cool little interlude and it leads right into "Soilborn", where Leach returns with some more really heavy and pretty sweet screams. The guitar, bass and drums sounds tight and heavy as usual and everything these guys do just hits so hard! D'Antonio slows things down with some cool bass, then they fire into a fast-paced chorus with some great fast drums by Dutkiewicz. After they reach the cool bass part again, they break things down and end the song on a really heavy note. Not even anything resembling a weak song so far! Track 7 is "Numb Sickened Eyes" and it starts with a slower, but pretty catchy and cool guitar riff and Leach still screaming high and low and sounding great. They speed things up for the chorus which also sounds pretty good and Leach does a nice job of switching between screaming and singing in the chorus. This pretty much sums up this song, but even though it's a little less creative, both riffs are still very much above average and if this goes down as the weakest song on the album, then it's still a fairly high bar. The next track is "In The Unblind" and they kick right into another typically heavy and cool main riff with a great rhythm section backing some cool, heavy guitars and of course some super metal screaming. I love how relentlessly in your face these guys are and Leach reminds us again in the chorus that he's a decent singer as well, though it's his screaming that definitely makes things. They don't stray far from the main drag on this one either, but I don't mind one bit when the main drag is so awesome! Leach really gives it all at the end of the song as well! The final track on this shorter album is "One Last Sunset" and it is driven by a piano riff! It's certainly nowhere close to the rest of the album stylistically, but it's an epic piano riff and D'Antonio and Dutkiewixz fall in with an epic rhythm section to match the mood. Stroetzel eventually completes things with some light but cool guitar and if this was somewhere in the middle of the album I think I would've liked it more but it's a really weird way to end what was otherwise a very heavy record. It's a solid instrumental song, just a weird finisher.

That is the end of "Killswitch Engage" and I thought it was a phenomenal debut album by Killswitch Engage! All four guys play some really great metal music, and I love how (aside from the finale) in your face and heavy everything is! Jesse Leach's screaming vocals are some of the heaviest in my library so far and I think he sounds awesome! "Irreversal" was my favourite, but the whole album was great and it's especially great considering it's their debut! I can't wait to see where they go from here!