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Killswitch Engage: Killswitch engage
20/08/09 || Euthanatos
I’m not a big fan of albums that are self-titled. But I can accept those. What I really, really despise is when a band decides to self-title an album twice. I mean, really, are you lacking creativity that much? Why not do a contest with your fans, have them name your album? Why don’t you ask someone’s grandmother, I’m sure they’d come up with something that would at least be funny. So, yeah, fuck this shit.
I picked this album up to review it because I though it sounded a lot better than “As Daylight Dies”, which I thought was pretty shitty. I actually dig Killswitch Engage, granted, I like their earlier albums more than the Howard Jones-phase, but Jones is a much better singer than Jesse Leach, and “The End of Heartache” was an amazingly melodic album. Fuck you if you think it’s trendy, I like it, so there.
True, Killswitch Engage are largely responsible for the hideous metalcore scene that came out of America to haunt us for years to come, but can you really blame them? They just did (and still do) their thing. So where does that leave us with “Killswitch Engage”, part II? Well, that’s the thing; you have to really tone down your hatred to the metalcore scene/genre to really appreciate it, and if you manage to do that, you’ll see it’s actually a good album.
For starters, I can actually differentiate one song from the other, something I couldn’t do in the previous albums. Everything in “As Daylight Dies” sounded like an emo-snooze fest, and I couldn’t stop playing that album fast enough. While this one is still a lot more melodic than I’d like (featuring a lot more clean vocals than I’d like), it’s a lot more aggressive, and also more varied.
Is it better than “The End of Heartache”? No, sadly, no, not even close. “The End of Heartache” had some truly memorable songs. While some songs are quite cool on this album, and some of the vocal lines are catchy as hell (actually, anything Howard sings on has a good chance it’ll be catchy; he has the talent for that), they don’t stand out as much. I really like the song “The Forgotten” and its overall production, but that’s as far as I go when it comes to singling out one song out of the bunch.
Yes, the band have tried their best to branch out and try some different things, but unfortunately their best just isn’t good enough. I think for a group that defined (maybe even invented) a genre, this is just not enough for them. They seem to be trapped in their own style, much like In Flames to me; the face of a musical niche that can’t seem to escape the cage they built for themselves. Which is a shame, really, because it seems pretty obvious that they’re talented fuckers.
A valid and valiant effort? Aye, for sure, and praise to the lads for giving it a go. Worthy of the Killswitch Engage legacy, whatever that may be? Somewhat, but to be truthful, lacking. Maybe if someone in the band died or they changed a band member to get some fresh ideas. Hell, even a special producer might do the trick. Which is terribly ironic, because the producer they’ve worked here is none other than Brendan O’Brien, who is pretty much the fucking man right now. Just listen to what he did with AC/DC and Mastodon, the best work those bands have done in years. Did he do the same with Killswitch? He did, but I don’t think they helped him much. The production does sound great, though.
So where does that leave us? I have no idea, I’m as lost as the metalcore genre right now. It came, it saw, it certainly conquered, but the biggest fight is to stay on top, and this style is certainly more played out than “Paranoid”. Will it be able to reinvent itself and keep fresh? Possible, but the revolution doesn’t seem to be coming from the scene’s once greats.
The cover: What the hell is that, a jaguar barfing? Fuck me, these guys are on serious drugs.
- Information
- Released: 2009
- Label: Roadrunner
- Website: www.killswitchengage.com
- Band
- Howard Jones: vocals
- Adam Dutkiewicz: guitars, backing vocals
- Joel Stroetzel: guitars
- Mike D’Antonio: bass
- Justin Foley: drums, percussion
- Tracklist
- 01. Never Again
- 02. Starting Over
- 03. The Forgotten
- 04. Reckoning
- 05. The Return
- 06. A Light In a Darkened World
- 07. Take Me Away
- 08. I Would Do Anything
- 09. Save Me
- 10. Lost
- 11. This Is Goodbye
