Killswitch Engage – Disarm The Descent


Before I start with today’s review I’d like to warn you that April marks the release of new records by several “mainstream” bands…so be prepared to read about those, since I love writing about records that I’ve been waiting for for quite some time. The first one of those is Killswitch Engage‘s new album Disarm The Descent, so here we go.

Their new album marks the return of their first singer Jesse Leach after a bit more than ten years of absence following the release of the phenomenal Alive Or Just Breathing. Just right off the bat: I won’t go into the eternal “Team Jesse vs Team Howard” debate, since I enjoy both their contributions to KSE. But I will say that this record by far surpasses the band’s last, self-titled, output with Howard Jones.

Musically DTD is very reminiscent of AOJB with a bit of influences from Jesse’s side-project Times Of Grace which clearly shine through. However, it does feel like their heaviest output to date since, except the typically extremely melodic choruses, you barely get a chance to catch your breath between the walls of fast-paced riffs, crushing drum beats and angry, heartfelt screams that come your way almost non-stop.

I have to say that the main gravitas on these twelve tracks, to me, are the vocals and the accompanying lyrics. While trying to keep to what I said in the second paragraph, I won’t expand too much on it but I’m a huge fan of Leach’s vocal performance in general, since his screams are super raw and you just “buy” what he’s singing. The fact that he’s vastly improved since his first output with the band just makes it even better.

To sum things up I’d say that this is definitely an amazing comeback and if you are, like me, an avid listener of the band’s debut album, you will immediately feel at home when you put on this record. Is it their best record? I wouldn’t say so…but it’s totally worth the forty-one minutes of your time and almost guaranteed to entertain for far longer than that. Check out the band’s Facebook page for further info and listen to the song below!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoga4cROMvE]