#this consequence

Who, may I ask who likes rock and metal, doesn’t know who Killswitch Engage are? One of the utmost iconic bands to have ever have existed in metalcore. 26 years so far, this makes album number 9 which feels low for a band with such a long career, however I think we can all agree it’s been a great 9 fucking albums right? Jesse’s 5th album overall, 4th since he returned following the departure of Howard Jones, let’s go!

First single “Forever Aligned” has all the criteria of a Killswitch Engage track, chugging along like a steam train through the verses building up through to a clean hook over the cleaner tones on the chorus, it’s a good taster but I can’t help but feel we’re not really going to break the mould here. “I Believe” came next, and that one sat back from the angst and takes a more delicate approach pushing a big vocal hook, think more “Starting Over” as opposed to the likes of “Rose of Sharyn”. I wasn’t keen on “Discordant Nation”, it was too chaotic in the chorus for me to sink my teeth into the melody. “Abandon Us” on the other hand is absolutely my jam, an industrial machine passing the baton off to a fantastic vocal melody and impressive guitar work, the reason I fell in love with metalcore all those years ago. If the more aggressive side of the scale is where you sit then I give you “The Fall of Us”, enjoy the blast beats and deep growls, in this case the chaos and carnage works to keep the heaviness even through those vocal hooks.

Whilst nobody will say this latest album shatters any boundaries or revolutionize the genre, it’s another fine example of a band confident in their own skin flexing their muscles. I mean damn Killswitch basically raised most of us, and hopefully as they embark on a big tour later on this year they can still be around to guide future metalheads down the right path. Make sure you get your tickets to that tour, It's a gnarly line up.

It delivers exactly what most expect, and while it won’t set the world alight, it’s got more than enough enjoyable aspects to slot alongside some of the high points of their 25-year career.

Killswitch Engage, the iconic metalcore band, are back with their brand-new album, ‘This Consequence’, out on February 21st, 2025, via Metal Blade Records. Has it really been so long since we’ve had a new Killswitch Engage album to talk about? Their last full-length album was 2019’s ‘Atonement’, and a lot has happened since then. I mean a hell of a lot, both internally and externally for the…