It’s time. We’ve seen enough. Barring the pure moments we spend creating, enjoying, and loving one another in community, it feels like the apocalypse is near. Humans are banding together to seek kinship and connectivity however possible. We need a safety mechanism to shut down the machine. Can a rhythmic reboot save our souls?
Enter three-time Grammy-nominated hard rock heavyweights Killswitch Engage – Jesse Leach (vocals), Adam Dutkiewicz (guitar), Joel Stroetzel, (guitar), Mike D’Antonio (bass), and Justin Foley (drums).
The technically impeccable, always delectable, platinum-selling band dropped yet another melodic metalcore masterpiece with their latest album This Consequence, satisfying our collective cry for a therapy session. The harrowing instrumental intensity and cutthroat lyrics celebrate the profound, oozing emotional state of America-at-large. This creative compilation calls for a pause to reflect on our state of culture and community. The record offers sequential stanzas of spiritual inquisition – and that dirty, signature metalcore feeling conjured deep in the gut.
The album opens with “Abandon Us,” an instant-impact wake up call like an espresso punch to the face. Disregard the notion of no politics at the dinner table as Leach cries: “Use your intuition / Awaken from your sleep / How many years controlled by fear? / The fallacies run deep / Contention (Contention) / Diverted (Diverted) /Democracy is desertеd.”
The juxtaposition of deathly screams and pretty crooning checks the box of standard Killswitch requirements and pulls heavily as Leach screams to anyone who will listen. “Abandon us / You turned your backs on all of us / Abandon us / All we had / Reducеd to rust.” The emotion is oozing out of Leach (true to form on any and all KsE records), but this time it’s even more palpable as if he’s singing on all of our behalf in a collective outcry.
Look no further than the track “Discordant Nation” as a new anthem for the American people with the looming doom and gloom lyrical declaration: “Living through discoordination in our society / A boiling point of our frustration and mass anxiety / Anyone can see undeniably diversion is the new disorder / Forced complacency / Assimilated to the syndicate.”
The record plays on like a literary loom, as the storytelling unfolds with an eerie foreshadowing of what’s to come on the track “Aftermath.” The frontman sings: “We’re reeling from the aftermath / Still bleeding from the damage of the past / We’re reeling from the aftermath / That feeling that it’s just out of our grasp.”
Maybe this says something about me, but I want to be able to play this music even louder than my audio tools permit. The depth of the band’s range and vocal generosity is intoxicating. This album builds on the traditional triumph-over-tragedy Killswitch signature sound, with a fresh lens that offers a much-needed current catharsis. These songs ensue a celebration of deep emotion, discovery, and introspection.
There’s no stone unturned in the album’s content, including heartbreak. The slap-happy drums hit like the pain from a love lost on the track “Forever Aligned.”
The album’s first single,”I Believe,” according to Leach, is about undying hope. “During difficult times perspective is everything,” he shared in a press release. “Knowing deep down that ‘this too shall pass’ has been a beacon of light for me. I do believe there is meaning behind suffering. If we are able to push through difficult times and come out the other side, there is a renewed sense of purpose.”
Leach noted, “I know there are much more commonalities between all of us as humans than there are differences. The good far outweighs the bad. This is my message to anyone who’s listening – things will get better! However, you have to believe that they will! There is power in faith, there is power in manifestation and prayer! Keep the faith and push forward with the confidence of better days ahead. Do not let this world pull you down into despair. Tomorrow is a new day and a new possibility for change!”
On the closing track, “Requiem,” the urge comes full circle as Dutkiewicz and Leach collaboratively croon: “We emerge form the pain again / This is not our requiem / I swear this is not the end / This is not our requiem.”
Killswitch Engage wrote the book on melodic metal, and this pensively-written and carefully-crafted masterpiece clutches another notch in the belt for one of the genre’s greatest acts.
THIS CONSEQUENCE IS OUT NOW VIA METALBLADE RECORDS. CHECK IT OUT WHEREVER YOU LISTEN TO/STREAM/PURCHASE MUSIC!
