This Consequence - Killswitch Engage
Six long years have passed since Killswitch Engage released their 8th album: Atonement. I spent that time craving new music from the band, hoping we’d see a return to the incredible songwriting that not only put the band on the map but also placed them on the Mount Rushmore of Metalcore. As the singles were released, my interest waned. What I was hearing sounded bland, flavorless, and like more of the same Metalcore music we’ve been hearing for years now. After sitting down with the full album, I can see that the band certainly held back on the greatest treasures This Consequence had to offer. The record's first half is not memorable and is a bit of a drag, while the second half feels like an entirely different album, filled with the aggression and heaviness the band has become known for. The songwriting is much more brutal and tighter with killer riffs that don’t put you to sleep like the first half.
One of the weakest components of the album is Jesse’s clean vocals. His screams sound brutal and effortless, but the clean vocals feel less genuine/sincere and more formulaic and “safe”, leaning more toward Hard Rock than Metalcore. I’ve reached the point where I’m burnt out on Jesse’s clean vocals and miss the Howard Jones era just that much more. Howard’s operatic vocals always felt full of life and meshed beautifully with the music. This Consequence also lacks the raw emotion and sound of their early work, which is evident not only in the clean vocal performance but also in much of the instrumentation and production. That’s not to say the album isn’t heavy, rather it just lacks a certain grit and edge that made the band what it is. The album also contained the most egregious use of tambourine playing in Metal music that I have ever heard, which cheapened the sound of the record. If I had to hear it one more time, I would have chopped my ears off!
Earlier I mentioned that the second half of the record feels like an entirely different project and because of that, I gravitated toward that side when looking at what songs stood out to me the most. Surprisingly, despite my overall disappointment with the album, I ended up enjoying the last five songs enough to call them out. “Where It Dies” kicks off the album’s second half, acting as a cup of cold water being dumped on your head to wake you up. Everything about this song is heavier and faster than the first half, while still offering a catchy chorus to sing along to. This song feels like the start of the band taking the opportunity to just write some badass Metalcore tracks that have some chugging on the riffs, fast kicks and blast beats, and venom in the vocals. “Collusion” has a breakdown that hammers you over the head with a killer Deathcore sound that reminds you how hard these guys can still throw down when pushed to it and it’s easily my favorite moment on the record. The next track, “The Fall of Us”, has a speedy and heavy intro with blast beats reminiscent of early Metalcore days when bands were still borrowing from Hardcore and Deathcore more than straight-up Heavy Metal. The drumming is fast and ferocious, the riffs are meaty and bone-rattling, and Jesse sounds the best on this track (both clean and screamed vocals). The pinch harmonics are a fun addition and the song features another pummeling breakdown that feels more Deathcore than Metalcore. The outro doubles down on this concept and is phenomenal too. “Broken Glass” is a quicker track that has a good groove while still being heavy. The drumming is yet again fast but isn’t overcomplicated or flashy. The vocals on this track are also great. The final track, “Requiem”, reminds me of a Lamb of God song during the intro due to the guitar tone and playing, which is easily the biggest reason I wanted to point this song out.
Despite the glimmer of hope the second half of the album offered, I still feel that This Consequence will be lost to time and forgotten, much like Atonement was. Atonement reviewed well, but I’d be hard-pressed to remember a song or moment specifically from that record. This Consequence is not as much of a letdown as All That Remains’ Antifragile, but it’s still not what I’d hope or expect from Killswitch Engage. If you compare the record to other modern Metalcore releases, it stands above them, but the record struggles under the weight of expectations when you compare it to the discography the band has. Here’s to hoping the new Howard Jones and Adam D. project, Burn Eternal, fills that classic Killswitch Engage void that I’ve been feeling for years.