Killswitch Engage's 'This Consequence' - Album Review

As I have said on this blog before, there is sometimes something comforting about bands who rarely tweak the formula - and generally release album after album based around a core sound with little want to shake things up. Some bands go stale very quickly attempting this approach, whereas others seem to excel and continually release strong material - with the Massachusetts-based five-piece Killswitch Engage, in my opinion anyway, falling into the latter category. Since forming back in 1999, and releasing their self-title debut album in 2000, Killswitch Engage have rarely disappointed. Whether fronted by original/current frontman Jesse Leach or during Howard Jones' tenure between 2002 and 2012, Killswitch Engage have stayed true to their metalcore roots - with each album being snappy, polished, and very enjoyable. It perhaps helps, too, that Killswitch Engage were one of the forerunners of the metalcore genre. The genre did not really boom until the mid-2000s, by which time Killswitch Engage were well-established scene leaders, so the band were certainly ahead of the curve by the time the sound they pioneered started to become big business. It is probably easier to keep releasing strong albums utilising a fixed genre template when you essentially created said template - and at this point I do not think anyone wants Killswitch Engage to change. The metalcore sound has evolved over the years, not always for the better, but Killswitch Engage have stayed true to the original mix of melodic death metal, traditional metal, and hardcore which they fused on their debut album - and nine albums deep that sound still sounds fresh. It helps that few bands are still playing this particular original brand of metalcore, and I am very much out of touch with the current metalcore scene thanks to the strange directions the sound was taken in and the number of frontmen who seemed to want to become rappers, but I still keep up with what Killswitch Engage are doing - so I was pleased when last month their ninth studio album This Consequence was released. Fans of the band have been made to wait quite a while for this latest album. Having essentially released an album every three years since Leach returned to the band in 2012, This Consequence dropped following a six year gap. The band's last album, Atonement (which I reviewed here), was released in 2019 - meaning the gap between the two albums is the longest in the band's career. A digital-only EP, Atonement II: B-Sides for Charity, was released in 2020, but the six songs on the EP were leftovers from the Atonement sessions - so it never felt like a true follow-up despite being enjoyable. Fans did get to enjoy more music from Leach and guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz in 2021, though, as they released Songs of Loss and Separation (which I reviewed here) - the second album from their side project Times of Grace. Dutkiewicz is supposedly working on a new project with Jones, too, so it could be that a lot more music is to come from this camp soon - but for now This Consequence will certainly keep the fans happy. It is very much another album of melodic metalcore from the masters of such - and there are no big surprises here. Joining Leach and Dutkiewicz once again here are the rest of the band's core line-up of guitarist Joel Stroetzel, bassist Mike D'Antonio, and drummer Justin Foley.

Killswitch Engage's albums are never long and rarely feel fatty - and This Consequence is no different at just over 35 minutes long. The 10 songs here are hard-hitting and to-the-point - with a great sense of melody thanks to both Leach's strong vocal delivery and the interlocking guitars of Dutkiewicz and Stroetzel. Another big influence on Killswitch Engage, which I did not mention above, is thrash. Admittedly thrash is essentially the base for melodic death metal - but some metalcore bands are more thrashy than others, and Abandon Us showcases this influence from the off. The stabbing snare drumming of Foley as the song starts allows for quite an anthemic riff to open the album - but once the riff transforms into something less staccato and the band launch into things properly a strong thrash influence is on display. The song is fast-paced one, then, as is typically the case on this album - but the driving drumming and snappy riffing feel especially urgent as the album gets underway. This informs the verses, which see Leach deliver in a strident fashion with his throaty harsh vocals. He sounds as good as ever vocally throughout this album, but there is real venom to the verses here - whilst the melodic and melancholic chorus is sung clean, with soaring hooks and a melodic lead guitar underpinning to create something instantly memorable. A big guitar solo later adds further to the song's melodic nature - and the song is instantly a Killswitch Engage classic like many of the best songs of the band's past. Discordant Nation is heavier. Whilst the harsh verses/clean chorus arrangement is still employed, the overall feel is much tougher. The thrash sound is very much present again, but there is more of an extreme metal vibe throughout. The riffing is much sharper overall, and there is little of the melancholy which is often a big part of the band's sound. The chorus does not soar as is often the case, with the emo tinges of the band's core sound absent, as Foley instead delivers a blast beat over which the band rattle away and Leach sings clean - albeit with much more grit than usual. There are still hooks, but they are delivered in a much more aggressive manner - and the melodic death metal roots of metalcore are very much present here, whilst a ride cymbal-led breakdown section showcases the hardcore side. As if feeling the need to then present something a bit more commercial, Aftermath is very much classic Killswitch Engage. The opening clean guitar melodies instantly hark back to some of the slower tracks of the band's past - but this song does not morph into a big ballad as might be expected. It is a high-energy track - but it feels a bit more mid-paced and strident overall, with more of a traditional heavy metal feel despite plenty of harsh vocals and a few juddering riffs backed by off-kilter double bass drum patterns. The chorus really soars, though, and it is one of the album's instantly memorable moments. Leach really lets his voice do the heavy lifting, his vocal melodies sticking instantly, but the hooky guitar leads underneath his voice also add a lot to the song - and a later brief instrumental section builds on this guitar approach with some interlocking melodies.

Forever Aligned opens with some quite anthemic percussion, but once the main riff kicks in the song again takes a much heavier path. There are strong extreme metal influences here again, then, but, unlike Discordant Nation, there are also huge melodies and more overt metalcoreisms. The verses are some of the album's heaviest moments, with Leach's deep growls differing from his usual screamed approach. The riffing and drumming throughout the verses also feel much more extreme metal-influenced - and there is little of the band's usual bounce. It feels darker and meaner as a result - but the chorus instantly changes this thanks to Leach's huge vocal melodies and a classic metalcore guitar lead, both of which instantly stick in the brain. There is a lot of light and shade throughout the song, then, which is typical of Killswitch Engage's best moments. They can sound pretty heavy when they want to, especially for a mainstream band, whilst the chorus showcases that knack for a hook that has served them so well over the years. I Believe is more of a strident mid-paced rocker, and from the off there is a much more traditional heavy metal feel - and even occasional classic rock vibes. Leach generally sticks to his clean voice here, with the screaming relegated significantly. The song opens with a simplified rendition of the chorus, which gets the main melodies out front right away, and the clean-sung verses differ from everything else on the album up to this point. There is a strong groove to the verses thanks to some chugging riffing and precise drumming, but the high point here is the chorus proper - which really soars thanks to some anthemic vocal hooks and some trade-offs between Leach and Dutkiewicz. The latter generally adds his harmonies throughout the band's albums, but he occasionally sings the odd line here and there - and this chorus is one of his more obvious vocal contributions. He also sings a plaintive bridge section later, before Leach finishes it off with one of the song's rare screams. Where It Dies returns to a heavier sound following the melodic feast of the previous song - with a main riff that echoes early Trivium somewhat. Killswitch Engage were almost certainly a big influence on Trivium early on, so this similarity is not a surprise - and the pinch harmonics add a different vibe to the track. The verses are very thrashy, despite a relatively restrained pace, whilst Leach showcases his vocal diversity throughout with screams and deeper growls injecting plenty of emotion into the piece. As the opposite of the previous song, clean vocals are kept to a minimum this time - with the chorus containing both harsh and clean vocal lines to keep up the overall heaviness. A snarling guitar solo is later full of character, too. Collusion feels much more hardcore influenced. The song is somewhat more mid-paced overall riff-wise, although the fast drumming beneath the relatively slower and more grinding riffing creates a strong contrast. Leach alternates between deep growls and the somewhat shouted/spoken approach that many hardcore vocalists use, which fits in with the sludgier riffing, whilst the chorus is a true melodic feast with soaring vocals and another hooky guitar lead. There are a few different riffs here, too, with a particularly standout moment being a much heavier breakdown with some of Leach's deepest growls to date.

The Fall of Us opens in a fast and chaotic manner, with a death metal-adjacent riff and a slightly more progressive feel. If the production was rougher and more extreme metal-friendly the opening riff would not sound out of place on a Nile album - but this vibe is short lived, with the song soon morphing into a thrashy metalcore track, albeit with some extreme metal trappings. Parts of the verses retain some death metal heaviness, with bursts of explosive drumming and intense guitar rhythms to create an oppressive sound - whilst Leach again relies on some deep growls at times alongside some more typical screams. The big chorus gives the game away somewhat, though - but there are still heavier moments here. Leach might sing clean and in an anthemic way, but the blasting drums beneath the chorus riffing keeps the pace and intensity levels up. A slower, heavier bridge section later on only adds to the heaviness, too, meaning that the song is one of the album's most intense cuts. Broken Glass is another track with more of a hardcore influence overall - and it reins in the general pace found throughout this album to create a sludgy, mid-paced feel that mixes hanging riffing, growled vocals, and some more of those semi-spoken hardcore barks that Leach likes to use occasionally. It is probably the most different-sounding song on the album, and there are strong reaches back to the band's first album at times. The bass is pretty high in the mix, again adding to that hardcore vibe, whilst the melancholic feel of the more melodic end of the band's sound is stripped out here to be replaced by something much more murky. The vocal melodies during the chorus would not sound out of place on an Alice in Chains album - even if the drumming beneath them is much heavier and more intense. It is a strange song overall, but it is very short - meaning that it is over before it fully takes hold. The album then comes to a close with Requiem which, following the diversion of the previous song, is very much classic Killswitch Engage. It is perhaps not as fast-paced as many of the tracks, but this only allows it to feel much more anthemic overall. The interlocking lead guitars of Dutkiewicz and Stroetzel early on really sum up the classic old-school metalcore sound perfectly, whilst occasional thrashy bursts and extreme metal trappings ensure that the band still sound suitably heavy. The chorus is not as hooky as some of the album's best, but it still sticks in the brain - with Leach really pushing his clean vocal range to the max. A lengthy guitar solo for the band's standards later gives the song a bit of a touch of class. The bigger overall feel of the song gives it fitting album-closer vibes and it feels suitably epic within the snappy and no-fat scope of Killswitch Engage's sound to offer that point of difference as the album comes to a stop. Killswitch Engage rarely disappoint and they certainly have not here with This Consequence. It does essentially just tread the expected path but the band do the metalcore sound so well that the familiar is welcome. Other bands would likely make these songs sound tired, but Killswitch Engage always strike the balance so well - and the hooks here are sure to keep me coming back.

The album was released on 21st February 2025 via Metal Blade Records. Below is the band's promotional video for Forever Aligned.