Review: Dan Maynard
Massachusetts metalcore veterans, Killswitch Engage, are set to release their latest installment, This Consequence, on Friday—and boy, is it a whopper. In true Killswitch Engage form, this album is nothing short of heavy as fuck while finding time to incorporate stunning melodic landscapes throughout, with choruses that will take you right back to a time in life that just seemed easier.
Opening track Abandon Us takes no time at all to get to the point. With a short-lived buildup intro, it’s straight to the races. If Killswitch Engage does one thing right (spoiler: they do everything right), it’s opening tracks. Whether it’s a long build like old-school Killswitch Engage track As Daylight Dies, or as recent as Abandon Us with its eight-bar intro, the opening track to a Killswitch Engage album is never short of epic. I don’t want to give too much away—just get in there and crank that sucker!
Discordant Nation is a track that sits at under three minutes long but uses that time wisely, hitting all the marks. A chorus sees vocalist Jesse Leach breaking out in an epic clean vocal section, while drummer Justin Foley drives the energy with an alternating blast beat.
My favorite track on the album? Forever Aligned. This song seems to take everything that makes Killswitch Engage great and jam it perfectly into a single track. From the jarring chugging opening to the powerful chorus, to the dueling guitars mid-song, and that stunning clean guitar closing out the track—sheer perfection.
Broken Glass claims the title of shortest track on the album at a mere two minutes and thirty seconds. But like Discordant Nation, its time is used wisely. Sometimes, these shorter tracks can do more damage—figuratively speaking. As brutal as they come, this is a song that we can only hope makes it to the live set. Come on, guys—it’s two and a half minutes long, just throw it in there!
It seems to be a trend of late that albums end with a more subdued, melodic track. Requiem is not that track. Keeping with the theme of the rest of the album, this is a straight-to-it killer of a song. An incredible solo rips through the bridge, and the song finishes on a repeat of the chorus, with a ring-out to close the album. It’s perfect.
This Consequence takes moments throughout to recognize each part of the machine—be it Jesse Leach’s pairing of soaring melodic vocals and deathly screams, Adam Dutkiewicz and Joel Stroetzel’s fiery guitar riffs, Mike D’Antonio’s jaw-dropping bass tone, or Justin Foley’s relentless drumming. Killswitch Engage have made it abundantly clear that the end is nowhere in sight. They still have the power to wield an aggressive and creative album after all these years.
This Consequence, set for release on February 21 via Metal Blade
