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Killswitch Engage is an American metalcore band noted for their abrasive, hard-hitting sound. They have also been recognized for taking pop constructs and re-working them into their own nihilistic style.
The band formed in Westfield, Massachusetts, US in 1999 and was birthed out of the dissolution of the two Boston heavy bands, Overcast and Aftershock. The idea of Killswitch Engage was sparked by a jam session shared between Overcast bassist Mike D’Antonio and Aftershock guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz. The second guitarist of Aftershock Joel Stroetzel was later invited to join the group. Stroetzel a guitarist noted for his technical and inventive style was a former student of Berklee College of Music and is influenced by the likes of virtuosic metal guitarists such as Zakk Wylde. The lineup of Killswitch Engage was eventually completed with the addition of former Nothing Stays Gold vocalist Jesse Leach. The band called themselves Killswitch Engage after an X-file episode written by influential cyberpunk author William Gibson.
Killswitch Engage landed their first gig opening up for the likeminded metal band In Flames. At this show they promoted their first release, a four track demo tape including the song “Soilborn”.The band released their debut album one year later on 4 July 2000 through l Ferret Music. Though this album was not a commercial smash it heated interest in the band and garnered the attention of Roadrunner Records. The group would later enter in a contract with the label.
The group’s next album “Alive or Just Breathing” gained the band a good bit of exposure and placed them at No. 37 on the Top Heatseekers chart. In the early 2000s the band experienced a hefty amount of fluctuation with their lineup. Pete Cortese from Overcast joined Killswitch Engage as their second guitarist, but left less than a year later. Still determined to be a band that featured two guitarist Dutkiewicz moved from drums to take up the position of second guitar. Aftershock drummer Tom Gomes was accepted into the band to fill the opening.
Perhaps the biggest change up for the band was vocalist Leach’s abrupt departure. Leach quit the band 3 days before the band was to play a show. After auditioning several vocalists (one being Philip Labonte of All That Remains) they decided on ex-Blood Has Been Shed vocalist Howard Jones. Justin Foley of Blood Has Been Shed also joined the Killswitch Engage lineup replacing drummer Gomes.
With this line up the band perhaps experienced the greatest success of their career. The group played MTV2 Headbangers Ball in 2003 and in 2004 released their third album “The End of Heartache” which climbed all the way to 21 on the Billboard 200 chart. Not only was this album a commercial hit it was also herald by the critics and was nominated for Best Metal Performance for the 47th Grammy Awards. The group continued their stride touring a few high profile festivals and releasing yet another commercially successful album “As Daylight Dies”. This album went to No. 32 on the Billboard 200.
The band released one more album with lead singer Jones, which would be the band’s second self-titled release. The band started a search for a new lead singer and recruited the groups initial frontman Jesse Leach. With the induction of Leach, the band went on to put out their sixth studio album, “Disarm the Descent”. The album did exceptionally well on the charts and with critics. It reached No. 7 on the Billboard 200 chart and No. 1 on the Top Hard Rock Chart and the Top Rock Albums Chart. Its leading single “In Due Time” was nominated at the 2014 Grammy Awards for “Best Metal Performance”.
Read moreI suppose, if you’re a genuine subscriber to the notion that all screaming metal vocalists sound the same, that it should at least mean you can swap your old singer for a new one and yet still be able to continue relatively seamlessly. That’s precisely what happened to Killswitch Engage, back in early 2012; when their frontman of nine years, Howard Jones, left the band for reasons that are still to be disclosed, they were simply able to bring their original vocalist, Jesse Leach, back into the fold; he’d left the band back in 2002, after bouts of depression and problems with his voice - exacerbated by the uncontrollable nature of his screaming - had left him struggling to keep up with the relentless pace of touring. Not too much has changed since Leach’s return, really, with Killswitch continuing to include a slew of Jones’ material in their sets; with some of their biggest hits featuring him, including ‘My Curse’ and a cover of Dio’s ‘Holy Diver’, they didn’t really have much choice. Like Jones, Leach is an energetic performer, an intimidating physical presence and an incendiary screamer, although there’s no question that he lacks that deep, operatic quality that helped Jones bring a touch of real drama to proceedings. Earlier this year, Killswitch completed a rapturously received co-headline tour of the UK with Trivium; knowing their prodigious work rate, though, they’ll likely be back before long.
Often cited as some of the founders of metalcore, the electrifyingly heavy Killswitch Engage have been rock festival headliner staples since their formation in the late 90s. The Gold-record selling band originally evolved from the breakups of metal bands Overcast and Aftershock, with Overcast's former bassist Mike D'Antonio teaming up with Aftershock's guitarists Adam Dutkiewicz and Joel Stroetzel.
After a number of line-up changes, Killswitch Engage are still going strong after well over a decade, and the band recently released their sixth studio album, 'Disarm The Descent', to the delight of metal hardcore kids (and adults) the world over. This was, naturally, followed by a string of tour dates, and when I saw KSE in 2013 opening for Lamb Of God at the Fillmore Silver Spring, it was clear to me that they have lost none of their powerful, blastbeat-driven sound and originality.
In their live set, the brutally heavy sound of their guitar riffs and drums paired with pitch-perfect vocal screams and unexpectedly tender lyrics were found in classic songs like 'This Is Absolution', 'The Hell in Me', and the epic finale, 'My Curse'. The band's light show was also pretty incredible, combining a creative onstage presence with strobes and blinders to punish the moshpit-enthralled audience. If you want to experience a sweaty, fist-in-air heavy metal show at its best, go see KSE- you'll be in for a treat.
Now you may consider it bold to enter a stage to the theme tune from Rocky, however 'Eye Of The Tiger' seems pretty appropriate for American metal core outfit Killswitch Engage as they are well and truly in the zone when they perform live. They have been touring for over fifteen years now and have a surpassable ability with their instruments, every single member is of equal talent and they just sound so fantastic in a live setting.
Vocalist Adam Dutkiewicz also has a pretty individual vocal which is able to cut through the noise, cheers and instrumentals of the huge venue. He commands attention and with the more passion he throws into his performance, the louder the baiting crowds grow. They mosh throughout and the pits grow larger in size with the vicious riffs of 'Fixation on the Darkness' before they climax for 'In Due Time'. The group is clearly impressed with the energy of their crowd and thank them for being particularly rambunctious tonight. A final screeching rendition of 'My Curse' closes an expectedly mad show.
I was excited and hesitant to finally see KSE. Fortunate to see them in a small venue... packed stage to doors, but alas without Howard Jones. I don't go back to their beginnings; jumped on board with The End Of Heartache, HJ was the glue if you will. Well give it to Jesse Leash. He is dynamic, aggressive... an integral part of the current force called KSE! This band is tight, solid and professional. A show not to be missed if this genre is of your liking. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of their performance, and the crowd must have too as the place was jumping. Looking forward to their new release....
The both acts before KSE were Tenside and Prevocation and they were really good and then came Killswitch Engage! Wow what a blast! They stepped on stage and started playing as their lives belong to this show. They have shown the crowd their energy and feelings about every single song they've played. We had a good mix on their set list of old and new stuff and as already said it was absolutely amazing! Less talking, more songs to hear. First time for me that I've seen them live (I mean I seen them 2008 at the wacken open air but I was drunk as hell) and I am 100% sure that it was not the last time!
Killswitch Engage played with Rise Against this show. Rise Against was the headliner though. With all due respect, Rise Against is a talent band with a great sound... but after that Killswitch mosh pit.. R.A.'s set just bored the f*** out of me! Killswitch should've been headlining this show! They are so much more badass and better sounding! I get it though.. Rise Against is more radio friendly so they probably have a bigger following. Much love and respect to both bands. For Killswitch specifically: COME BACK TO SAN DIEGO SOLO NEXT TIME AND TEAR THIS MOTHERF****R UP!
I was initially hesitant to see Killswitch when I found out Howard had left (best thing for him, though, considering his health). How wrong was I?!! Bringing back their original singer, Jesse Leach, was the best move they could've made. He's so passionate about the music, jumping up to make his fist pumps more aggressive, you can't help but rock out. I'll see them again every chance I get and buy all of their cd's! If you haven't seen them yet, YOU NEED TO GO!! No lie!
The show was freaking awesome! It was completely insane, there was nothing be just pushing and shoveing and just being drenched in other people's sweat and non stop crowd surfing. I expected nothing less from a concert like this. I do not recommend this concert for frail and fragile people as they can get seriously injured but all in all the crowd was nuts. Killswitch was⚡⚡⚡⚡
Didn't see Toothgrinder. I had never heard of 36 Crazyfists but I really liked them. I downloaded their newest album after their set. Highly recommended. Memphis May Fire was a snooze. Killswitch always does a good show. There were some technical difficulties and the singer was deathly ill. He probably should have been in bed but he banged out an impressive set.
Good show.
It was amazing. I work at the house of Blues and when we found out the show got cancelled we immediately search for another venue and warehouse live was like "YES!" only 500 showed up vs. 1700 we had ticket sales for but, the show was so much more intimate and they even played extra songs for us off their first album. I left satisfied, happy, and in pain lol
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