Listmania: 20 Years of Killswitch Engage!

4th July is American Independence Day and in 2020 it will be a special one for Westfield Massachusetts Metalcore heroes Killswitch Engage. Their debut self titled album will reach its 20th Anniversary, their one and only release for Ferret Music before signing to Roadrunner Records for their major label debut. Produced by guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz and featuring the first song the band wrote as a band “Soilborn” and the album was written in its entirety before vocalist Jesse Leech joined the band from Nothing Stays Gold. Adam D has already said the band are against the anniversary tours as a concept believing that they stifle creativity, which is ironically the approach Ukraine’s finest export Jinjer take to cover songs. So as Adam D talked about writing single “My Curse” in this interview with Kerrang Magazine last week, here’s our top 5 picks from the Killswitch Engage discography!

1. From the aforementioned self titled debut, it has to be “Vide Infra”. A positive Metalcore track with influences of Slayer, Death Metal and Thrash all in the fold. It’s a Vulgar Display Of Power.

2. 2003’s major label debut for Roadrunner Records “Alive Or Just Breathing?” Spawned the BIG single in “My Last Serenade”. The only real question is who sings it better – Jesse Leech or Howard Jones?

3. Howard Jones debut for Killswitch Engage “The End Of Heartache” set the very high standard for Metalcore and influenced the second wave of bands in the genre. “Rose Of Sharyn” was the second BIG single.

4. As Jesse Leech returned to the fold and replaced Howard Jones, the question was if Jesse Leech would be able to provide the clean vocals. “In Due Time” showcases those with some of their Classic Metal influences.

5. As Howard Jones continues his career with Light The Torch, there was a clamour from the fans for a track that featured both Jones and Leech sharing a microphone. Killswitch Engage made it happen with “The Signal Fire” from new album “Atonement” and it’s an absolute pleasure.

You can read the interview with Kerrang Magazine about “My Curse” here.