ALBUM REVIEW: Killswitch Engage – Live At The Palladium


An interesting release from Killswitch Engage, metalcore royalty who at the beginning of 2020 had just commenced touring their latest album Atonement. But found themselves heading home as the pandemic struck, licking their wounds and unable to take one of their strongest records out on the road, for shows that included support from former vocalist Howard Jones’s band Light The Torch; Atonement featuring the crushing track (‘The Signal Fire’) which saw Jones trading vocals with current (and original) singer Jesse Leach, and the tour providing the perfect opportunity for both frontmen to hit the stage together. Continue reading


CONCERT REVIEW: Knotfest Roadshow – Slipknot – Killswitch Engage – Fever 333 – Code Orange Live at DTE Energy Music Theatre


Entering DTE Energy Music Theatre was like walking into a theme park. There is a reason why it was rated first in the world for Pollstar’s 2019 year’s end rankings. Last weekend an army of black shirts with dyed hair walked through the outdoor amphitheater’s large gates. The late afternoon was pregnant with the infancy of Autumn which carried a refreshing crispness in the air. The tingly weather placed the multitude of concert goers in a rambunctious mood.  The well-groomed music venue is accompanied with exceptional landscaping and pretty restaurants that set a peaceful tone which would be greatly contradicted with the night of mayhem ahead. Slipknot was in town, and they brought the Knotfest Roadshow with them.  

Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Times of Grace – Songs of Loss and Separation


Nearly fifteen years ago, current Killswitch Engage members Jesse Leach and Adam Dutkiewicz teamed up to birth the collaborative project Times of Grace. This dynamic duo pushed their creative boundaries by conjuring a fresh take on the heavy-yet-melodic sound. They delivered their debut album, The Hymn of a Broken Man (Roadrunner Records) in 2011. The gloom and aggression let loose on that record was ignited by the brutally honest songwriting. The themes of struggle, heartbreak, and hope were potently delivered with a real and plaintive spirit. These two brought forth a discovery of powerful melancholy and now ten years later, they are offering a sequel to that revelation. Their second full-length Songs of Loss and Separation (Wicked Good Records) is carrying on the melodic mournfulness, yet wonderfully wholesome sound that is Times of Grace.

Continue reading


Killswitch Engage Celebrates 20 Years as a Band with its Official Timeline


Killswitch EngageAdam Dutkiewicz [guitar], Joel Stroetzel [guitar], Mike D’Antonio [bass], Justin Foley [drums], and Jesse Leach [vocals]  are celebrating 20 years as a band, and have shared an official timeline of the group. On Wednesday, June 3rd, began posting an array of pictures from their history to the band’s official Instagram feed: https://instagram.com/killswitchengage/. The band wiped its Instagram page clean and proceeded to share one image per year per day, starting with 1999 and going through 2019. It was a mere hint of what was to come.Continue reading


Slipknot’s Jim Root and Mick Thomson Named “Best Metal Guitarists In The World.”


According to a poll on the Music Radar website, Slipknot’s Jim Root and Mick Thomson have been named “Best Metal Guitarists In The World.” The pair received over 17,000 votes, beating out such names as James Hetfield (Metallica); James “Munky” Shaffer and Brian “Head” Welch (Korn); Olavi Mikkonen and Johan Söderberg (Amon Amarth); Richard Z.Kruspe and Paul Landers (Rammstein); Phil Sgrosso and Nick Hipa, Sean Long and Mat Welsh (While She Sleeps); Kerry King and Gary Holt (Slayer); Adam Dutkiewicz and Joel Stroetzel (Killswitch Engage); and Alexi Laiho and Daniel Freyberg (Children Of Bodom) in a vote by fans of the site. Slipknot’s new album We Are Not Your Kind released on August 9th via Roadrunner Records/Elecktra. Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Killswitch Engage – Atonement


A few beers in and I’m trying to figure out the angle on this new Killswitch Engage release, Atonement (Metal Blade). Sure, to Johnny NoName, it simple to just say “it’s just another Killswitch album, you know what you’re getting.” And sure, there’s a bit of truth to that statement as we get many of the tried and tested play plays from this Massachusetts staple like rock-solid production, punchy mix, and equal parts melody and guitar fire. I wouldn’t expect any less.Continue reading


Unearth Announces Full Details Of New Album “Extinction(s)” Due Out This Fall


As we previously reported, metalcore originators Unearth will release their new album Extinction(s) this fall via their new label, Century Media Records, on November 23rd. Produced by Will Putney (Every Time I Die, Body Count, Gojira, Thy Art Is Murder, Silent Planet) at Graphic Nature Studios, and Killswitch Engage’s Adam Dutkiewicz recorded drums, his first drum performance since 2011’s Times of Grace album The Hymn of a Broken Man. Check out the full track listing below.Continue reading


Audio: Adam D And Corpsegrinder Release Another New Serpentine Dominion Song


corpsegrinder-adam-d

The highly anticipated release from extreme metal supergroup, Serpentine Dominion, will be hitting stores on October 28th via Metal Blade Records, and we have another new song for you today. Continue reading


Miss May I – Deathless


Miss-May-I-deathless

Despite possessing one of the least pernicious of names imaginable, indeed one that summons memories of primary school lavatorial permission-seeking  (could their moniker imply anything less metal if they tried…?), metalcore quintet Miss May I have been around long enough to use the facilities of their own free will, with Deathless already their fifth album (all Rise Records) in seven short recording years.

Stacking up against its predecessor, the anaemic Rise of the Lion, it was imperative that Miss May I brought the thrash, aggression, groove and above all conviction to banish their previous misstep. And, thus, lo, and ye-gads, they do, as crushing ‘I.H.E.’ (I Hate Everyone/thing) makes the required statement of intent from the off, seguing from a dark build up to hit thrashing triplets and a feral almost black metal howl to one slab of a breakdown. It might not be the most progressive move they could have made, but there’s something about doing what you do, and doing it well, that a lot of bands would be served paying attention to.

It has to be said, most of Deathless could be glibly dismissed as metalcore 101, but to do so would be to deprive yourself of what is close to a masterclass in the art. Roll up, roll up, for we have Avenged Sevenfold melodic twin guitars, we have breakdowns, we have ‘core throat vocals, we have clean choruses (that either pick a track up and take it to sing-along town, or provide a darker twist) and we have Adam Dutkiewicz inspired post-classic metal entwined with thrash riffery, but what we also have is the sound of a band who have returned to their roots to show that they can smoke the opposition when it comes to metalcore.

Most bands, at their core, are genuinely best doing one thing and while there is often a rush to abandon a sound or style because it’s not “cool”, anymore, there will always be those who want to hear their favourite style performed well.  There is no denying Miss May I are convincing and amongst the best of the current second wave of American metalcore acts. There may not be any need to abandon ship if they keep delivering the goods.

 

7.0/10

 

STEVE TOVEY


Killswitch Engage, Cannibal Corpse, Ex-Black Dahlia Murder Side Project Out This Year?


The much talked about unnamed project with Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz, Cannibal Corpse vocalist George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher, and former Black Dahlia Murder drummer Shannon Lucas looks like a release will become a reality later in the year. An Instagram photo by Fisher below hints this.