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Massachusetts' metalcore group
Killswitch Engage, formed in 1999 by
guitarist Joel Stroetzel,
vocalist Jesse Leach,
bassist Mike D'Antonio (of Overcast) and
drummer Adam Dutkiewicz,
After Killswitch Engage (2001) they hired a second guitarist,
Pete Cortese (also a former Overcast), to coin the visceral twin-guitar attack and
melodic emotional appeal of
Alive or Just Breathing (2002).
Throughout the album Leach entertains with his
schizophrenic vocals that alternate between savage growl and clean crooning,
always radiating existential pain.
If Numbered Days is standard stereotypical metalcore,
Self Revolution lays down the band's technical fortes:
a rhythmic bacchanal (a showcase of Dutkiewicz's neurotic drumming) and double-guitar mayhem that contrast and enhance
the convulsed melodic dimension.
Fixation on the Darkness reduces the idea to the minimum: a
thundering and brutal instrumental to support a swelling refrain.
Secreted from those sources, My Last Serenade is their anthemic power-ballad, rivaled by Just Barely Breathing, another arena-ready refrain that however relies on much more technical interplay and anticlimatic tempo shifts.
The martial tempo of Life to Lifeless exudes power and melancholy at the same time.
Temple From the Within is a more straightforward metalcore affair,
with the drumming approaching blastbeat orbit.
The Element of One tempers their bluster while still deploying all their tricks.
Dutkiewicz replaced Cortese on guitars while Justin Foley joined on drums,
and Howard Jones replaced Leach on vocals, for The End of Heartache (2004), their breakthrough album (i.e. commercial sellout).
Due to the slicker sound, the songs lose much of their abrasive power.
Worse of all, despite all the technical prowess and vocal bravery, too many songs sound like the same song.
A Bid Farewell, Take This Oath and signature song
The End of Heartache (whose melodic section evokes emphatic prog-rock of the 1970s)
are power-ballads made of
sweeping melodic surges coupled with wicked guitar riffs.
A bit of variety shows up in
the faster and wilder When Darkness Falls and Rose of Sharyn (and no less poppier).
Breathe Life is the only truly ferocious moment here.
Even better is the demonic and epileptic Wasted Sacrifice.
Several songs are at best repetitive and at worst filler.
With these two albums, Killswitch Engage had found a balance between the
hysterical loud sound of nu-metal and the catchy introverted sound of emo-core.
As Daylight Die (2006) displayed a much lighter sound, as epitomized
by the hit My Curse.
Killswitch Engage (2009) was basically a collection of filler.
Disarm The Descent (2013) and Incarnate (2016) confirmed that his had been an overrated band.
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