Without a shadow of a doubt, Boston's Killswitch Engage have had quite the career. Their original first few albums were greatly welcomed by the public and soon enough KsE found themselves a neat spot atop the hierarchy of metalcore bands. Killswitch Engage, in their original line-up, included vocalist Jesse Leach but this was altered to Howard Jones, who appeared on "The End of Heartache" as he did on several subsequent albums (As Daylight ies etc.) This album , Alive or Just Breathing, was the band's sophomore effort chasing on the tails of their self-titled debut.
I consider Alive or Just Breathing as one of best albums in the genre. To avoid confusion and such, I refer to Killswitch Engage as 'metalcore' in the sense that the band are the sort of 'metalcore' that is similar to bands such as Bleeding Through and Unearth. What Alive or Just Breathing achieved for the band is undeniable. It was sharper than the debut - better production; better sounding instruments. Original vocalist Jesse David Leach provided the vocals for this album. I for one think he does a super job - his roars and shouts are not necessarily unintelligible but he utilizes a number of different vocal techniques to convey his emotions across to the listener. Jesse has a great clean singing voice, demonstrated throughout the majority of the twelve tracks on the album. I will say it now - there is not a single bac track on this album. The opening track starts things off in style - Numbered Days features all the trademark KsE characteristics' that the band always display on their songs - heavily down tuned power chords, the "squealing" pinch harmonic that pops up here and there, as well a large number of well written and well-performed guitar riffs. The melodic interlude breakdown riff in Numbered Days is absolutely fantastic (wouldn't be surprised if it is one of the greatest metalcore riffs of all time but it is one helluva riff from Joel Stroetzel. Whilst Adam D. contributed to the guitars on The End of Heartache, in the case of Alive or Just Breathing, he could be found providing the drumming (which is second to none throughout) instead of the guitars. As far as competency goes, Adam. D is as good a drummer as he is guitarist. He plays his kit well throughout Alive or Just Breathing, never playing out of place or in an uninspired manner. Joel Stroetzel has a good understanding of melody as well as sounding monstrously heavy the other half the time - Self-Revolution packs a few mighty tight riffs in abundance and shows Leach's versatility as a vocalist. Using cleans with a mixture of growls and screams used to be commonplace in this form of metalcore. Jesse handles all vocal duties very well and overall, his performance being outstanding throughout. Tracks such as My Last Serenade and Temple From the Within features some of Jesse's crooning in it's most blossomed form and this simply adds to the amicability of said track.
However, the band are at their fullest potential on the title track of the album. Alive or Just Breathing opens up with gentle, yet ominous guitar before a pick scrape signals to go headfirst into one of the greatest metalcore tracks of all time. When the main riff kicks in, you can't but help bop your head. And then, that- chorus- riff. This is one of the highlights of the album, the chorus of Alive or Just Breathing - Jesse's lyrics are particularly good here and very well sung. To the Sons of Man could be considered a little out of place in comparison to the other tracks, simply because of its harsh and very heavy style. Jesses' screaming is definitely the most unhinged he sounds on the album. The Element of One is an incredible song, melding together melodic metalcore guitar riffs that interweave with clean and harsh vocals from Jesse.
I would argue that this is quite possibly the greatest achievement of the band. In terms of execution and songwriting, it is up there with some of the best metalcore releases around. Guitar riffs on this are a good balance of technical and tasteful. There's enough chugga-chugga riffs sprinkled all over the album but I can safely none of the riffs sound lazy or uninspired. It is clear that this line-up had very good chemistry as there isn't really a bad or negative track on this at all. First four songs to open the album are also 4 of the best on the entire album. Numbered Days, Self-Revolution, Fixation On the Darkness and My Last Serenade are all definite highlights. Life To Lifeless is decent in it's own right but the one-two emotional punch of The Element of One and Temple From the Within which both come after the mammoth title track. Both these songs were also present on their self-titled album. However, where they appear here, the production values have been greatly improved and the two tracks are definitely two of the band's best. I believe both were written by Jesse for his wife.
Sadness aside, there is a lot to offer on this album and the replay value is amazing. This easily sits near the top of my "greatest metalcore albums ever" next to the likes of Unearth's The Oncoming Storm and Trivium's Ascendancy. I absolutely love the guitar riffs throughout (even though The End of Heartache built upon that matter) and Jesse's vocals are unique and varied. They had begun to perfect a certain style that would end up incorporating a good sense of melody with another strong sense of heaviness. Nothing sounds out of place in all honesty. Adam D. fulfils the role of drummer efficiently and the rest of the band do their share to make the album what it is. The bass of Mike D'Antonio sounds at it's best during the breakdowns - his tone is thick and sludgy and showcases an enormous low end. Obviously, Joel's guitar shenanigans are superb and Jesse, despite his imperfections, is a great vocalist. Whilst the band had greater success with album that followed this, I can safely say. Alive or Just Breathing is a classic through-and-through.
