Alive or Just Breathing
Killswitch Engage is:
Jesse David Leach - Vocals
Joel Stroetzl - Guitar
Adam Dutkiewicz - Guitar
Tom Gores - Drums
Mike D'Antonio - Bass
Introduction
Killswitch Engage, one of the best and most famous metal-core band in the « New Wave of American Heavy Metal » genre along with other excellent bands such as “Shadows Fall, Chimaira, Lamb of God, Trivium, God Forbid etc…” although they each play a slightly different type of music. KsE is no doubt a very talented band and as well, quite a unique a metal band as they manage to blend together a lot of heavy, fast metal riffs, pounding drumming and high-pitched screaming but yet they still know where and how to put their melodic parts; true moments which would almost make you “fall down in tears”. “Alive or Just Breathing”, is their 2nd album but also their last album which featured vocalist “Jesse David Leach” who sadly couldn’t continue with the band due to vocal problems but he was quickly replaced by “Howard Jones”. In my opinion, Jesse is a better vocalist as his screaming, growling and melodic, clean voice suites more the band although Howard is a very talented singer himself but everyone is entitled to their own opinion. It’s also after this album that the fans got split into 2 groups; the old fans (Jesse) and the new fans (Howard). But anyhow, if you like listening to bands just like “Shadows Fall” or “In Flames” who mix death metal with melody, then you should enjoy listening to KsE as they are close to being as aggressive and heavy as them with their distinct Gothenburg sound and their brutal breakdowns.
Track by Track Review
Tracklist:
1. Numbered Days
2. Self Revolution
3. Fixation On The Darkness
4. My Last Serenade
5. Life To Lifeless
6. Just Barely Breathing
7. To The Sons Of Man
8. Temple From The Within
9. The Element Of One
10. Vide Infra
11. Without A Name
12. Rise Inside
•
Numbered Days : The song immediately starts with Jesse growling “The time approaches!” (Sounding very much like a growl done by singer of Atreyu). Then all the instruments join in while Jesses is talking in the background. The song then really begins with a heavy guitar riff while Jesse is doing his usual screaming and growling. The song then slows down by a just little bit but shortly after the song speeds up until the chorus. The chorus is very nice as we can hear Jesse singing and at the same time, Adam screaming a few words in the background. After this, there is a short interlude with a few peculiar guitar riffs being played. The song then finishes with the same brutal riff and Jesse screaming. For the first track on the album, I was surprised that there was no intro but it is not necessary as it is good to begin an aggressive album with a brutal song.
Score: 4/5
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Self Revolution: Once again, this song immediately begins with a fast riff and shortly after, Jesse comes in. But at about half a minute, the song slows down giving a moment for the bass to play a few lines and also a bit of drumming. The song continues with some fast and very well done palm-muted riffs. Although the chorus is very nice and melodic, it is not one of my favourite. The song drastically slows down and shortly after, there is another chorus. The song finish then finishes off as a breakdown. It’s maybe not one of their best songs, but it does deserve a listen.
Score: 4/5
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Fixation On The Darkness: One of KsE single and also one of my favourite. This song is much more melodic compared to the previous ones and once again, they show us that they really know what their doing when it comes to melodic chorus. When I first heard the chorus, it just blew me away; Jesse’s singing is just incredible and so are his lyrics abilities:
“Return to the womb (New life) lay your head to rest (Mercy)
To give you a peace of mind lay your head to rest”
And Adam screaming in the background makes it sounds even better. But of course, this wouldn’t be a KsE song if there were no breakdown. Near the end (breakdown), the usual “before-breakdown” bass line is played and the song just finishes aggressively.
Score: 4.5/5
•
My Last Serenade: Just as the name states, this is in a way, a sort of love song. The song begins with a very short but beautiful acoustic intro with a smoothing voice but do not worry, just as I said before, shortly after the electric guitars kick with a brutal opening riff and it really does catch you off guard. Then Jesse comes in switching often between growling and screaming. The chorus seems almost like an “orgasm” to the ear (yes, I’m exaggerating) with Jesses singing and the metal riffs played in between. After there’s a short moment/break for the guitars to play a few harmonised riffs. The song ends using the same formula from the beginning. This song is close to being perfect and it is maybe my favourite song of the album. It was also the first KsE song I had ever listened to so I suggest you listen to this one first so that you can get a general idea and feeling of the whole album.
Score: 4.5/5
•
Life to Lifeless: The song immediately begins with a fast and pounding drumming with an open note “machine gun” riff. After about half a minute, the 2nd guitar kicks in and Jesse enters with his usual screaming. The chorus is in my opinion, one of their best. Jesse sings:
“Life to lifeless to eternity, Life to lifeless the cycle repeats”
And after, there is a fast guitar riff and a little bit of double bassing being played. Before the chorus, there is a “build-up” and once the chorus finished, the song then ends with the guitars gaining in pitch.
Score: 4/5
•
Just Barely Breathing: One of their longer tracks. The songs begins with a very an odd and peculiar acoustic intro giving it a mysterious atmosphere. Shortly after, the electric guitars come in playing a slow but heavy riff (it reminded me in a certain way of old Metallica). Then all of this builds up and Jesse comes in with a long scream along with the support of some fast double-bassing. It is at this point that the song really starts. The guitars start playing much faster with their typical palm-muted riffs and so does the drumming as well. Just after the chorus, the song slows but shortly after, picks up some pace. Near the end, the song drastically slows down and the song beautifully fades out to outro with a few ensemble strings and voices. This is a good and solid song but not their best.
Score: 3.5/5
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To the Sons of Man: This is probably heaviest song on the album but also the shortest being clocked at 2 minutes. The drumming and guitar work are much faster than on most of the other tracks and there is barely any melody. Most of what Jesses does is just screaming as loud as possible. At about half way, the song slows down by a lot and Adam starts singing while Jesse screams. Although this isn’t a bad track at all, it just doesn’t fit the feel of the album at all as they tried composing this song in a different style.
Score: 3/5
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Temple From the Within: Similar to “Self Resolution”, the song immediately begins aggressively. Although there some melodic moments here and there, Jesse tends to just scream throughout the whole song. Surprisingly, there is a slow breakdown quite early in the song. After this long breakdown, the song regains its rapidity for a short moment and near the end, the song slows down into another breakdown until it finally fades out. This is a very aggressive song and it reminded me a lot of Hatebreed but more melodic.
Score: 4/5
•
The Element of One: Just like “My Last Serenade”, the song commences with another one of their beautiful but simple acoustic intros. The electric guitars then join in along with Jesse singing “Breathe me in” as if it was a lullaby. The song suddenly speeds up and all the instruments including Jesse join in. Adam and Stoel show us that they can play some of their very finest melodic riffs (harmonised riff played after the interlude/break). The main highlights of this song would be as I said before, the guitar riffs and also, Jesses singing.
Score: 4/5
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Vide Infra: Vida Infra is quite similar to “Temple from the within” as it begins aggressively and stays aggressive. The song never loses its intensity and scarce are the moments that the song slows down. There are even parts where they play fast tremolo picking riffs along with huge screams which show that they do have a few death metal influences. The song then ends with Jesse constantly saying “They cannot take you from you they cannot take I from I”. They did well to add a melodic ending to such a destructive song.
Score: 4/5
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Without a Name: Finally there is an instrument track although I have not much to say much about it apart from that it is sounds superb with the dual acoustic guitar work.
Score: 4.5/5
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Rise Inside: Rise Inside starts off with a pounding bass line and shortly after, the drums and guitars enter with a slow but heavy riff. The song speedups by a bit until the chorus which I don’t really seem to like as the melodic guitar riffs and Jesse singing don’t blend together very well. Thankfully, just after there is a very nice melodic section which begins with a clean guitar. And then finally, there is a slow but crushing breakdown marking the end of song and the album. This wouldn’t be my favourite track as it is repetitive and also very long making it making the song just drag on.
Score: 3/5
Conclusion
Compared to their first album, “Killswitch Engage” and their latest album, “The End of Heartache”, this is in no doubt their finest and best album. Not only does it feature a lot of beautifully made melody but also a lot of heavy breakdowns, fast riffs, pounding drumming and screaming and growling done by Jesse’s powerful voice. KsE is not just any metalcore band; they are pioneers of the genre and any metalhead could easily enjoy their unique music. As I previously said before in the intro, if you’re into bands like Shadows Fall, In Flames and maybe even At the Gates, I recommend you to first listen to this album before any of the other ones as it is balanced between both melody and power.
Pros:
- Melodic Choruses
- Guitar riffs (many of them sound a lot like In Flames or At the Gates riffs)
- Jesses voice and lyrical abilities. (He is a Christian and this is reflected in his lyrics)
- Adam Dutkiewicz. Not only is he the lead guitarist but also the driving force of the band and a producer as well.
Cons:
- No solos
- KsE often uses the same formula to structure their songs but I don’t mind that because it works well.
Highlight Songs:
- Fixation on the Darkness
- Life to Lifeless
- Temple From the Within
- My Last Serenade
- Vida Infra
Final Score: 4/5
Other recommended bands:
- In Flames
- Shadows Fall
- All That Remains
- God Forbid
btw what could I do to improve my review? i tried giving an overall feeling of the album...
