May 11, 2004 - The End Of Heartache

It's a double release day! Two years since their last album "Alive Or Just Breathing", Killswitch Engage released their third album "The End Of Heartache" on May 11, 2004. Killswitch have some major line-up changes since last album, starting with the departure of lead singer Jesse Leach. Leach is a pretty awesome screamer, a decent singer, but most certainly a transformational one that will be missed for sure. He is replaced by new singer Howard Jones and he also is a great screamer, while being a better singer! Also, Killswitch expands to a five-piece as Joel Stroetzel goes from all guitars to just rhythm guitar and the lead guitar is now played by Adam Dutkiewicz, their drummer! That's a drastic shift I've never seen before: drummer to lead guitarist! Justin Foley joins the band as their new drummer and this is quite the different look now! Killswitch are definitely still metalcore, but they lean more melodic and radio-friendly on this album. Let's see how all these changes affect Killswitch!

The album begins with "A Bid Farewell" and Stroetzel plays a slow and epic rhythm guitar riff while Mike D'Antonio and Foley add a pretty epic rhythm section. Adam and Howard both enter at the same time and the heavy lead guitar along with a fantastic long, high scream signal the beginning of a pretty solid main riff. Howard screams the verse and he sounds great screaming high and low, and when they shift to the chorus he switches to a super epic and powerful singing voice! His vocal range is just incredible, he sounds awesome! The music is still the same heavy goodness we expect from Killswitch but I dare say Howard Jones is an even better singer, and screamer, than Jesse Leach! This was a pretty good intro into what this new form of Killswitch is all about! Up next is "Take This Oath" and it amazingly features Jesse Leach, meaning we have both singers from their two eras on the same song! I've never seen anyone feature the guy who just left the band, but as you might expect, having both of these guys together is pretty awesome! Adam leads the way with another heavy and pretty cool main riff and having both Howard and Jesse screaming in the verse is a pretty sweet mix! Howard sings another epic chorus by himself, then after this round they nicely quiet things down and shift to a new riff. Howard sings a few lines and his voice sounds even more powerful overtop this quiet but cool riff... until they very nicely and suddenly slam into a heavy part with both screamers sounding great once again. This was a pretty sweet tune and they used the two singers really nicely throughout, well done! Track 3 is one of my favourite Killswitch songs "When Darkness Falls" and Howard unleashes one hell of a scream right from the get-go, overtop a pretty awesome main riff with both Adam and Joel playing some nice, heavy guitars. Howard is hitting all kinds of long, high screams in an amazing verse and then he switches to singing to nicely bridge the gap to the chorus. The chorus is so radio-friendly it's hard to believe it's the same band, but Howard's epic singing sounds so good and this melodic chorus riff is ridiculously smooth, it's a whole other side to Killswitch that they execute pretty perfectly! Another phenomenal heavy verse and epic chorus later Howard belts out a fantastic new part in a low scream, then perfectly switches to the epic singing as we move into a final chorus, this one with a couple bonus screams of the name of the song. What a phenomenal song! The next track is "Rose Of Sharyn" and they jump right into a typical first verse  which for this line-up means everyone playing some pretty solid metalcore and Howard screaming high and low, so I'll take this kind of typical! Adam's lead guitar is great on this one as they jam through a couple heavy verses before finally reaching the chorus and Howard mixes singing and screaming really nicely in this chorus. They don't stray far from the main drag on this one, but it's a pretty wicked main drag so there's no complaints here! Track 5 is "Inhale" and it's a little Interlude that's just over a minute long. Joel plays a light guitar riff by himself that is decent to keep the pace then Adam comes in on acoustic guitar with some cool lead stuff. It's very light and fluffy, but there's some epic guitar here for sure and it sets the stage perfectly for "Breathe Life" as things drastically shift to heavy and way faster! Adam is driving the verse with a fast and pretty wicked lead guitar riff, Howard is screaming low and solid right away, and the rhythm section is so tight and solid as usual. Howard mixes in some awesome high screams with the mostly low ones and he sounds super epic in the chorus belting it out, he's such a dynamic singer! After another fantastically heavy verse we get the album's first guitar solo and it's a pretty sweet one that definitely added an awesome extra layer to an already awesome song! Another amazing song! Track 7 is the title track "The End Of Heartache" and it starts with a slow  melodic chorus riff that is pretty cool until Howard's long and great screaming signals the shift to the heavier, chugging verse m, which also sounds pretty sweet. Howard sings for the most part in his wonderfully epic voice but does a nice job of mixing in some great screams as well. The chorus is very smooth and catchy and it's no wonder this was a successful single. After another great round Adam switches to a dirty new guitar riff that sounds great, Howard belts out some awesome screams and then things suddenly snap into quiet as they smoothly and nicely segue back to the chorus to finish things off. The bar is very high on this album, another awesome song! The next track is "Declaration" and Adam and Joel sync up for a hard-hitting and heavy main riff and D'Antonio plays some great heavy bass to back them. Howard sings/screams another pretty sweet verse and he screams much more in the chorus than normal, which I am perfectly okay with! They stick to the main drag on this one, but it's a great main drag filled with all kinds of cool guitars, great heavy bass and as always, a phenomenal vocal range from Howard! Track 9 is "World Ablaze" and they jump right into another hard-hitting, heavy and pretty sweet main riff; words are really falling short at all the unique and awesome riffs these guys come up with. Once Howard comes in to sing an epic verse they switch to a stop-and-start riff and hits really nicely with some great chugging guitars. The whole five minutes is headbangingly good and in the closing Howard nicely alternates between singing "set this world ablaze!" and screaming "let it all fall!" until eventually it fades into a light acoustic riff that leads right into the next interlude "And Embers Rise". Joel and Adam are both playing thr same acoustic riff, but slightly off time from each other which makes for a cascading and cool effect for this short minute-plus song. Track 11 is "Wasted Sacrifice" and they jump right into an epic build-up that perfectly leads to another great hard-hitting main riff and some phenomenal high screaming by Howard! Words don't do proper justice as they metal-y march their way through another pretty damn good main riff and Howard is just such a dynamic vocalist that everything sounds so good! Howard sounds so epic in the chorus both singing and screaming and this song is a perfect example of Killswitch is all about, performing at the highest level all the way through another five minute song. The final song on the album is "Hope Is..." and it features Philip Labonte from All That Remains! Adam does another fantastic job of leading the way with some more catchy and heavy guitar and I could describe it like any of the others, because that's how awesome this whole album has been! This might be one of the heavier main riffs, and that's saying something! I love it! Labonte adds some backing vocals in the chorus, but it's honestly pretty underwhelming, Howard is definitely carrying the weight. It's still an awesome song, but Labonte doesn't add much... until the finale which has him and Howard both belting out some super low screams! What an awesome way to end an awesome album!

That is the end of "The End Of Heartache" and if you couldn't tell I thought it was a phenomenal album! Adam Dutkiewicz was already a great drummer and producer, and he now proves he's a pretty awesome guitarist as well! Howard Jones is also one hell of a vocalist and this new line-up seriously kicks some ass on pretty much every song. It easily surpasses their self-titled debut, but their last album "Alive Or Just Breathing" was also one hell of a good album! The fact that I think this new album is even better shows how great it really is. They couldn't possibly top themselves AGAIN, COULD THEY?!