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Killswitch Engage - Killswitch Engage

posted by: Bayonetwork on 9 July 2009

Roadrunner

Ever since the release of Alive Or Just Breathing I've really liked Killswitch Engage. They even became one of my favorite bands with the release of The End Of Heartache. Opposed to many, I really like Howard Jones his voice. Probably because of my love for Blood Has Been Shed. So you could believe my disappointment when Killswitch Engage released As Daylight Dies. That album was just a prefab, there was nothing new to discover.

When I heard Killswitch Engage was going to work with Brendan O'Brien. After the results he achieved with the latest AC/DC or Mastodon album, I was curious what he could get out of KSE. The first track on this self titled record Never Again is one furious piece, it was reminiscent of Blood Has Been Shed, due to the way Howard Jones sings and due to the polyrythmic parts. The clean choruses were even up tempo and along with the vibe. This is probably one of their heavier songs ever. But other songs like Starting Over or Reckoning are quite typical KSE works. The big choruses and easy consumable harder parts. However, there's some more heavy metal stuff in there. Some Maiden-esque riffs and drumrolls. In The Forgotten you even get some Pantera influences.

So the first four songs sound very familiar, but do have a few new elements. I really liked them, because they were still metalsongs. The songs on the second half of this album are more mellow, with songs like Lost or The Returns as examples. They are great songs, perfectly done. You even get the most intimate singing of Howard Jones. But due to the lessened tempo it tends to get a bit too dramatic. They choose well not to make this album too long.

I definitely like this album better than As Daylight Dies, but it still leaves me with the feeling they could have done a lot better. The cooperation with Brendan O'Brien didn't gave them that extra creative fuel I was hoping for. If you got into Killswitch Engage thanks to the clean singing, you will find you fair share of that on this album. If you got into KSE because of the rawness from Alive Or Just Breathing, then you don't really have to check this one out.

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Related bandprofile: Killswitch Engage

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Comments

Author	Message
still it sells	Posted on 09.07.2009 (09:23) goto top
	Vanaf The End Of Heartache was het al om zeep met deze band, en niet alleen omwille van Jones. En als er wordt verwezen naar het oudere werk, wordt steeds opnieuw hun eerste plaat, de eerste self-titled, op ferret records vergeten. Wat een plaat en toen een waardige opvolger voor het ter ziele gegane Aftershock. KsE = slechte nu-metal (als dat al geen pleonasme is)
Goof	Posted on 09.07.2009 (10:17) goto top
	Je kan KSE een hoop noemen, maar geen nu-metal.
Floris	Posted on 09.07.2009 (11:27) goto top
	die 1e plaat is echt gaaf, daarna werd het steeds minder..
maerchenprinz WPG	Posted on 09.07.2009 (19:21) goto top
	"starting over" klinkt als een onwaarschijnlijke maar geslaagde mix van As Friends Rust (eerste EP) en Iron Maiden - verder een prut plaat

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