Does the American metalcore band Killswitch Engage need an introduction? Let’s not answer ‘no’ to this question, because that would make for a very short paragraph. In the early 2000s, this band released one hit after another in its genre and quickly rose to the top, together with (among others) Lamb Of God and As I Lay Dying. Frontman Jesse Leach left the band in 2002, after the release of Alive Or Just Breathing. He was replaced by the man with the golden throat: Howard Jones. The band released some fine records with Jones, and after nine years Leach took over again. Lyrically, however, the band continued to draw from its trusted archive: dealing with difficult periods in life and taking responsibility for your actions. This Consequence is released via Metal Blade Records and is album number nine since the formation of the band in 1999. Editors MaartenO (favorite genre: metalcore/deathcore) and Joris (favorite genre: black metal) tackle this hot disc head on and provide you with text and explanations.
What was your overall impression after listening to the album for the first time?
MaartenO: That the gentlemen are selling high quality again with This Consequence! I hear some subtle excursions that feel new within the band’s sound, but generally we get exactly what we hoped for with a new Killswitch Engage release. The balance between quiet and louder songs has once again been construed perfectly, the vocal interaction between Leach and Dutkiewicz remains of a high standard and the beautiful lead parts on guitar feel like coming home again. The lyrics again take a prominent place on this album and as soon as they deal with poignant themes, the metalcore adapts flawlessly to them. Everything in the power of the song itself: being the G.O.A.T, that they are!
Joris: For me the album starts a bit angular and pointed with Abandon Us. In this song you hear which bands the members used to listen to and probably still listen to, and yet they still manage to put their own spin on it. What you want to hear on a new Killswitch Engage record is the combination of pure aggression, melancholic melody lines and very strong vocals, whether they are delivered screamed or clean. What strikes me is that little or nothing has changed about that basic foundation, but that the band members were pushed to their limits by being in the same rehearsal room together. I think you can hear that especially in Mr. Leach’s vocals and Foley’s drum parts. After the first listen I was like: damn, the gentlemen are back and at the same time they never left!
Are these gentlemen – after years of delivering quality – putting forward some new assets? Or do we mainly get what we are used to?
MaartenO: On This Consequence it is mainly Jesse who experiments vocally with different lines than we are used to. The man sings his parts with great feeling during in Abandon Us, but even stronger are the dragging vocals and grunts at the end of the varied heavyweight The Fall Of Us. Musically speaking, this coincides with the downtempo Broken Glass. The blast beats increase the tempo a bit, but the riffs are crazy and also pull the song to the heavy side of the spectrum. We haven’t heard this type of songs from the five before. This way we get something new in relatively subtle accents.
Joris: Every band member was pushed to the edge for the recording of this album. Leach does this vocally. What he has achieved can be called monumental. Listen to The Fall Of Us. As always, he will receive support from Mr Dutkiewicz at appropriate times. Mr. Foley also brings out the blast beat on Discordant Nation and on the song just mentioned. This, together with the always great-sounding low-pitched bass of Mr. D’Antonio (try to grunt along on Broken Glass), can safely be described as rediscovering each other’s talents. It is there that I think the strengths of the new record lie.
MaartenO: In every respect we hear a band at work here that is seamlessly attuned. This Consequence is the first album since Alive Or Just Breathing in which the entire band has been involved in every process in the rehearsal room. In the biography we also read that this album may once again serve as a symbol for the next 25 years of Killswitch Engage. The band doesn’t easily give in to hollow words, so let this speak for itself, I think!
Joris: I wrote it before, you feel and hear in everything on this record that the music was written, thought out and developed together. Each member starts from his own strength and lifts the other to a higher level, as it were, and they just about don’t push each other over the edge. I Believe is a song in which you can feel those reservations trickling through very clearly. Collusion is also a tune in which you manage to rediscover all the Killswitch ingredients. Thundering, rolling bass kicks, sliding twin leads and perfect harmonies.
How would you rate This Consequence in the discography?
MaartenO: Whew. In my opinion, the band has not released any weak albums and the quality is very high as standard. For nostalgic reasons, Alive Or Just Breathing and The End Of Heartache remain jointly number one, but This Consequence follows in the wake, together with the last three recent albums. Nowadays it all sounds a bit more sophisticated, a bit more professional and slicker than before, but writing songs is apparently so simple for the band. To answer the question: top five material!
Joris: It is a typical Killswitch Engage release and it is certainly not inferior to recent or older work. Maybe I’m bumping into some sensitive shins by writing this down, but come on. It is actually an album by a band that sounds very mature despite the fact that they are “crazy guys” and so it is a logical continuation of previous work. But guys, even crazy grown men can make some really cool tunes.
Production-wise, is it different this time or is that just a reflection?
MaartenO: No, I don’t hear this. The production sounds like we were used to on the last albums and that is great. Crystal clear and not too heavy, so all instruments and the vocals are clearly audible in the mix. If every metalcore album sounded like this, I’d be a happy man.
Joris: That’s what you might think at first. I think the man behind the mixingtable (presumably Dutkiewicz himself) made some adjustments here and there, but if you listen to the album again and again, this slightly different production style fits perfectly. You feel the aggression, and anger at times. In addition, you can also feel the melancholy, pain and misery very well in other parts. Drum and bass sound particularly balanced. The guitars grind and steer as never before. The typical sliding and dexterous melodic themes are clearly put forward. Both the vocals of Leach and Dutkiewicz, whether delivered brutally or calmly and quietly, are rock solid.
MaartenO: On the previous album we indeed heard Howard Jones (and Chuck Billy) at work, but on Incarnate (2016) and Disarm The Descent (2013) we heard no guest musicians. The contributions on the previous album were certainly not bad, but Killswitch Engage can do well without extra help. After this question I started thinking about what else it could have offered on this already excellent album. Some interesting names might have completed it?!
Joris: On this album, guest musicians don’t add anything at all. The band can perfectly rely on its own strengths and I think they realized that very quickly. This is a record by the band, for the band but also certainly for the fans. Nothing is left to chance. Everything has been worked out perfectly.
What is the best song on the album for you? Is a sensitive chord being struck somewhere? Think of an acoustic guitar that is then pushed aside to throw in the pounding like you got with a song like Quiet Distress on the Incarnate album or I Am Broken Too on the previous album.
MaartenO: Forever Aligned makes my heart beat a little faster. There are some other songs that stand out on this album for various reasons, but this banger contains such a good variety that it makes it easy for me to choose: from bright, dark and aggressive at the beginning to melodic and tangible through the wonderful guitar work. So wonderfully versatile. The breakdowns and catchy lyrics are also the fat, juicy icing on the creamy cake. Songs like this one hold Killswitch Engage deep in my heart. Lyrically, the band hits a nerve in almost every song, but during Aftermath, Where It Dies and I Believe they leave just a little extra space in their music to showcase the lyrics a little better. The result is moving songs in which guitarist Dutkiewicz’s vocals in the background provide that little bit extra.
Joris: Wow, difficult question. Melancholic guitar strumming starts a song like Aftermath, but you soon come back from a bare journey to label this song as slow because the sledgehammer is quickly brought out here too. A song like Discordant Nation with that masterful blast beat part certainly has a little extra over the rest of the songs. However, Collusion comes close to the almost black metal-like The Fall Of Us. How brutal are the first bars! It’s difficult to choose, that’s for sure.
What is the final verdict?
MaartenO: 90/100
Joris: 95/100
Score:
93/100
Label:
Metal Blade Records, 2024
Tracklisting:
- Abandon Us
- Discordant Nation
- Aftermath
- Forever Aligned
- I Believe
- Where It Dies
- Collusion
- The Fall Of Us
- Broken Glass
- Requiem
Line-up:
- Jesse Leach – Vocals
- Adam Dutkiewicz – Guitar
- Joel Stroetzel – Guitar
- Mike D’Antonio – Bass guitar
- Justin Foley – Drums
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