Killswitch Engage

This article covers the band. For the album see Killswitch Engage (album) .

Killswitch Engage
Killswitch Engage (2016)
General information
origin	Westfield , Massachusetts , United States
Genre (s)	Metalcore
founding	1999
Website	www.killswitchengage.com
Founding members
singing	Jesse Leach (until 2002, since 2012)
guitar	Joel Stroetzel
guitar	Pete Cortese (until 1999, 2000-2001)
bass	Mike D'Antonio
Drums, percussion	Adam Dutkiewicz (drums: until 2002, lead guitar & background vocals: since 2002)
Current occupation
singing	Jesse Leach (until 2002, since 2012)
Rhythm guitar	Joel Stroetzel
Lead guitar , backing vocals	Adam Dutkiewicz (drums: until 2002, lead guitar & background vocals: since 2002)
bass	Mike D'Antonio
Drums, percussion	Justin Foley (since 2003)
former members
singing	Howard Jones (2002-2012)
Drums	Tom Gomes (2001-2003)
Live support and session musicians
singing	Trevor Phipps (Live vocals: Concert in Toronto 2005)
singing	Phil Labonte (live vocals: February to March 2010)
Lead guitar	Patrick Lachman (live lead guitar: 2007 for Adam Dutkiewicz)
Lead guitar	Josh Mihlek (live lead guitar: 2007 for Adam Dutkiewicz)
Lead guitar	Peter Wichers (live lead guitar: 2007 for Adam Dutkiewicz)
Drums	Jordan Mancino (live drums: since 2013)

Howard Jones singer (2007)

Killswitch Engage is a metalcore - band from the US Westfield . The band, founded in 1999, is signed to Metal Blade in North America and Columbia Records in the rest of the world and has released eight studio albums and one DVD to date. Her third studio album, The End of Heartache , was awarded a gold record in the USA .

The songs The End of Heartache , In Due Time and Unleashed were nominated for a Grammy in the category Best Metal Performance in 2005, 2014 and 2020 . By June 2016, the band had sold over four million albums.

history

Foundation and debut album (1999-2001)

When the metal band Overcast broke up in 1998, the bassist and songwriter Mike D'Antonio and the guitarist Pete Cortese were looking for more musicians to start a new band. She wanted to create a connection between Hardcore and Melodic Death Metal . After the friendly band Aftershock also broke up D'Antonio Cortese joined with the Aftershock - drummer together Adam Dutkiewicz and guitarist Joel Stroetzel. Dutkiewicz and Stroetzel met at Berklee College of Music in Boston , where Stroetzel studied guitar and Dutkiewicz studied guitar and drums, among other things.

Originally, former Overcast singer Brian Fair was supposed to take over the position of singer. However, Fair was too busy with his new band Shadows Fall . Eventually Jesse Leach , who was previously active in the bands Corrin and Nothing Stays Gold , became the singer of the newly formed band. At the suggestion of D'Antonio, the band was called Killswitch Engage. The name comes from the episode "Kill Switch" of the television series X-Files . The band name should symbolize the new beginning for the musicians involved. In the year it was founded, the band recorded a demo and played their first concert as the opening act for In Flames .

In 2000, Killswitch Engage were signed by Ferret Records and released a little later the debut album named after the band . Adam Dutkiewicz produced the album while D'Antonio designed the album cover . Killswitch Engage caused a sensation in the scene, but could not place in any country in the charts. The owner of Ferret Records, Carl Severson, introduced the people in charge of Roadrunner Records to the band. Roadrunner- A&R Mike grid then contacted D'Antonio and attended several concerts of the band. Killswitch Engage turned down several small business offers and signed with Roadrunner Records.

Alive or Just Breathing and The End of Heartache (2002-2004)

Pete Cortese left the band for personal reasons. Adam Dutkiewicz then switched from drums to guitar. A new drummer was found in Tom Gomes. Gomes previously played with Stroetzel at Aftershock . The second studio album Alive or Just Breathing was released in May 2002 and represented the band's breakthrough in the metal scene. The music video for “My Last Serenade” receives a lot of airplay in Germany from VIVA Plus . After their release, Killswitch Engage toured North America with Kittie , Poison the Well and Shadows Fall. At the end of the tour, singer Jesse Leach leaves the band. He had previously married and suffered from depression while touring . Finally, he informed his bandmates about his exit by email . Before rejoining in 2012, Leach was the vocalist for The Empire Shall Fall and Times of Grace .

Adam Dutkiewicz and Joel Stroetzel (from left)

Leach's successor was Howard Jones , who was previously active in the metalcore band Blood Has Been Shed . Killswitch Engage played together with 36 Crazyfists and Five Pointe O on the “Roadrage” tour in Europe. Drummer Tom Gomes left the band after returning from Europe because he wanted to spend more time with his family. At the suggestion of Jones, Justin Foley of Blood Has Been Shed, who studied at the Hart School Of Music in Hartford , becomes the new drummer . In 2003 Killswitch Engage took part in the Ozzfest tour through North America and went on the “Headbanger's Ball” tour with Lamb of God , Shadows Fall, Unearth and God Forbid that fall . The first song written with Jones, “When Darkness Falls” was used on the soundtrack of the horror film Freddy vs. Jason used.

A short time later, Killswitch Engage began recording their third album The End of Heartache , which entered the US album charts at number 21 after its release in May 2004 . In the first week, the album sold about 38,000 times in the US, while the previous album had sold over 100,000 times by then. In December 2007, The End of Heartache was awarded a gold record by the RIAA for 500,000 units sold. In Germany, the album debuted at number 42. The album was named the best album of 2004 by the Metal-Hammer editorial team.

Together with Anthrax and Soilwork , the band toured Australia and Japan for the first time in spring 2004 . In the second half of the year, a tour through North America followed as a support act for Slayer , which also featured bands like Eighteen Visions , From Autumn to Ashes and Mastodon . For the title song of their album The End of Heartache , which can also be heard in the credits of the film Resident Evil: Apocalypse , Killswitch Engage was nominated for a Grammy in the category "Best Metal Performance". However, the award went to Motörhead for their cover version of the Metallica song Whiplash . In late 2004, the debut album was released again by Roadrunner Records. In addition to the nine songs of the original version, the four songs from the 1999 demo are also included.

(Set This) World Ablaze and As Daylight Dies (2005-2007)

Mike D'Antonio

In January 2005, Killswitch Engage toured as opening act for Slipknot by Canada . At the Toronto concert , Jones had to sit out due to voice problems . Trevor Phipps took over for him. After another tour of Great Britain with The Used and My Chemical Romance , the band recorded their concert in Worcester and released it on DVD along with a documentary and music videos under the name (Set This) World Ablaze . The DVD was awarded gold in the USA for over 50,000 units sold. In addition, the second album Alive or Just Breathing was re-released for the 25th anniversary of Roadrunner Records. The bonus CD includes demos and a new version of “Fixation on the Darkness” with Howard Jones at the microphone.

Jones and Mike D'Antonio participate in the Roadrunner United project . While Jones is singing the song "The Dagger", D'Antonio can be heard on bass on three songs. In October 2005, Killswitch Engage toured Australia with The Used, Funeral for a Friend , Story of the Year and Rise Against . However, this took place without Dutkiewicz, who had to undergo back surgery.

In the summer of 2006, the band recorded their fourth studio album As Daylight Dies , which was released on November 17, 2006. The German magazine Rock Hard named the album “Album of the Month” in its December issue. In the US, the album sold about 60,000 copies in the first week and reached number 32 on the US charts. As Daylight Dies reached 62nd place in Germany and 68th place in Austria.

In early 2007, Killswitch Engage toured Europe with The Haunted . After Dutkiewicz had to undergo another back operation, Soilwork guitarist Peter Wichers stepped in for a few concerts. In the summer of 2007, As Daylight Dies was re-released. In addition to some B-sides and music videos, the version contains a cover version of the Dio song "Holy Diver".

Killswitch Engage and Disarm the Descent (2008-2014)

Jesse Leach at Rock im Park 2016

In October 2008 the recordings for the fifth studio album, which was produced by Adam Dutkiewicz and Brendan O'Brien and is called Killswitch Engage , began, it is thus the second self-titled album after the debut album Killswitch Engage . The album was released in the USA on June 30, 2009 and in Germany on June 26, 2009, and at number seven, it was among the top ten for the first time. In the summer of 2009 Killswitch Engage could be seen as headliners at the “Rock am Bach” event in Saarland.

On January 4, 2012, it was announced on the band's official Facebook page that they had split up with singer Howard Jones. Jones justified his move with a diabetes illness that had not been discovered for years , which made it impossible for him to continue working with the band. As a replacement, Jesse Leach was brought back into the band. With Leach as lead singer, a tour was completed in the following months and then the sixth studio album entitled Disarm the Descent was recorded, which was released on March 29, 2013. The band had already released the song In Due Time from the new album on January 30th on YouTube . Since February 5, 2013, the song can also be purchased as a single.

After the release of the new album, the band went on tour in North America and Europe in 2013. During the tour with Lamb of God , Jordan Mancino of As I Lay Dying sat on the drums at concerts because the regular drummer Justin Foley had broken his collarbone in a bicycle accident . In October 2013, Foley returned to the band for the Monsters of Rock concert in Rio de Janeiro. In 2014, the world tour led not only North, Central and South America, but also through Australia , Japan , South Africa and Eastern Europe.

Incarnate and Atonement (since 2015)

In March 2015, the band contributed the new song "Loyalty" to the mixtape Catch the Throne: The Mixtape Vol. 2 , which was released in the run-up to the premiere of the fifth season of the fantasy television series Game of Thrones . At the end of March 2015, Jesse Leach announced via Instagram that the band had already started recording a new album some time ago. From April 25 to May 3, 2015, Killswitch Engage went on tour in Asia, which included a total of five concerts in China, the Philippines and Taiwan. In the summer of 2015 they went on a North American tour with Rise Against and Letlive .

In November 2015, the band announced that the release of their seventh album was planned for March 2016. On December 11, 2015, the single Strength of the Mind was released on YouTube . The seventh album, named Incarnate , was finally released on March 11, 2016.

Following various tours through Europe, North America and Australia in 2016/2017, Killswitch Engage announced at the end of August 2017 that they were already working on a new album. Via an Instagram post by Jesse Leach in April 2018, which shows him together with guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz and the former Killswitch Engage singer Howard Jones, it was announced that Jones will take on a part in the song "The Signal Fire" of the new album . Shortly thereafter, Leach had to undergo vocal cord surgery, which is why seven concerts in the USA and Mexico had to be canceled.

In April 2019, the new album was initially announced for autumn. As the industry magazine Music Week reported on June 5th, Killswitch Engage signed new record deals with Metal Blade Records for the USA, Music for Nations (Great Britain) and for international distribution with Columbia / Sony . On June 25th, the new album Atonement was finally announced for August 16, 2019. At the same time, in addition to the first single "Unleashed", the tracklist was published, which confirmed both Howard Jones and Testament singer Chuck Billy as a guest singer . On July 16, a second single was released with "I Am Broken Too".

Discography

→ Main article : Killswitch Engage / Discography

Studio albums

year	Title music label	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
2000	Killswitch Engage Ferret Records	-	-	-	-	-	First published: July 4, 2000
2002	Alive or Just Breathing Roadrunner Records	-	-	-	UK- silver UK	-	First published: May 21, 2002
2004	The End of Heartache Roadrunner Records	DE42 (2 weeks) DE	-	-	UK40 silver (2 weeks)UK	US21st gold (11 weeks)US	First published: May 11, 2004 Sales: + 560,000
2006	As Daylight Dies Roadrunner Records	DE62 (2 weeks) DE	AT68 (1 week) AT	-	UK64 silver (1 week)UK	US32 gold (22 weeks)US	First published: November 21, 2006 Sales: + 600,000
2009	Killswitch Engage Roadrunner Records	DE27 (2 weeks) DE	AT36 (3 weeks) AT	CH51 (1 week) CH	UK29 (2 weeks) UK	US7 (12 weeks) US	First published: June 30, 2009
2013	Disarm the Descent Roadrunner Records	DE12 (3 weeks) DE	AT15 (2 weeks) AT	CH23 (2 weeks) CH	UK15 (3 weeks) UK	US7 (10 weeks) US	First published: April 2, 2013
2016	Incarnate Roadrunner Records	DE10 (3 weeks) DE	AT10 (2 weeks) AT	CH10 (2 weeks) CH	UK10 (2 weeks) UK	US6 (3 weeks) US	First published: March 11, 2016
2019	Atonement metal blade	DE11 (4 weeks) DE	AT16 (1 week) AT	CH9 (1 week) CH	UK13 (2 weeks) UK	US13 (1 week) US	First published: August 16, 2019

Web links

Commons : Killswitch Engage  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Official website
• Kill Switch Engage at Discogs (English)
• Interview at laut.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} laut.de: Killswitch Engage (biography)
2. ↑ lambgoat.com: An Interview with Killswitch Engage
3. ↑ Blabbermouth.net: Killswitch Engage Land New Frontman. Retrieved August 23, 2019 . 
4. ↑ billboard.com: Usher Keeps Rolling At No. 1 ( Memento from December 18, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
5. ↑ ^{a b} riaa.com: Gold and Platinum
6. ↑ ^{a b c d} MusicMight.com: Killswitch Engage ( Memento from September 18, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
7. ↑ rockonthenet.com: 47th Grammy Awards - 2005
8. ↑ billboard.com: Jay-Z Reclaims His 'Kingdom' With No. 1 Debut ( Memento from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
9. ↑ Killswitch Engage ( Memento from April 17, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
10. ↑ http://www.roadrunnerrecords.de/release/Killswitch+Engage
11. ↑ Blabbermouth.net: It's Official: Jesse Leach Rejoins Killswitch Engage. Retrieved August 24, 2019 . 
12. ↑ http://loudwire.com/killswitch-engage-new-single-in-due-time/
13. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsXi4C1KkrE
14. ↑ Killswitch Engage Are Back! ( Memento of January 10, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Retrieved November 6, 2015.
15. ↑ http://www.blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=192944
16. ↑ http://de.roadrunnerrecords.com/news/holt-euch-das-neue-game-of-thrones-mixtape-als-free-download
17. ↑ https://instagram.com/p/03IT-7y1Dz/
18. ↑ http://www.setlist.fm/search?page=2&query=artist:%28Killswitch+Engage%29+date:%5B2015-01-01+TO+2015-12-31%5D
19. ↑ http://www.axs.com/rise-against-announces-summer-tour-with-killswitch-engage-and-letlive-47790
20. ↑ https://loudwire.com/killswitch-engage-timeline-work-next-studio-album/
21. ↑ https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/killswitch_engage_getting_back_together_with_howard_jones_for_one_song.html
22. ↑ https://www.metal-hammer.de/killswitch-engage-wiedervereinigung-mit-saenger-howard-jones-1045463/
23. ↑ http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/killswitch-engage-cancels-shows-so-jesse-leach-can-undergo-vocal-cord-surgery/
24. ↑ https://www.nme.com/news/music/killswitch-engage-new-album-autumn-release-date-2479722
25. ↑ https://www.musicweek.com/labels/read/we-are-honoured-and-excited-to-be-a-part-of-this-campaign-music-for-nations-welcomes-us-metal -act-killswitch-engage / 072713
26. ↑ https://www.rockhard.de/artikel/killswitch-engage-unleashed-single-vom-kommenden-atonement-album-veroeffentlicht_459845.html
27. ↑ https://vampster.com/news/killswitch-engage-neues-album-2019/