BUY THESE DISCOUNTED RELEASES

Killswitch Engage - The End Heartache

 

	RELEASED: May 11th, 2004 PRODUCER:Adam Dutkiewitz LABEL:Roadrunner Records BAND: Howard Jones Joel Stroezel Adam Dutkiewitz Mike D’Antonio Justin Foley
+ Infectious songwriting, heaviness, tight musicianship all around - Another couple guitar solos would be nice	TRACKS: 1.A Bid Farewell 2.Take This Oath 3.When Darkness Falls 4.Rose of Sharyn 5.Inhale 6.Breathe Life 7.The End of Heartache 8.Declaration 9.World Ablaze 10. …And Embers Rise 11.Wasted Sacrifice 12.Hope Is…

OVERVIEW

This has to be one of the most despised albums in the recent history of hard music among metalhead genre nazis – you know, the ones who swear Metallica sold out with the Black album, still walk around in oversized Megadeth t-shirts and combat boots, and more likely than not have a Dimmu Borgir shrine in their room, right underneath their Slayer poster collection.  If you’re one of those dudes, you will almost certainly hate this album and should stop reading this review immediately.
            Fortunately, for those of us who can actually appreciate musical innovation and genre crossing, this is one heck of a metalcore platter that makes it blatantly obvious exactly how Killswitch earned their place as top dogs in the subgenre.  This record is KSE’s first since the departure of the much-lauded Jesse Leach, and taking his place on vocals is the imposing Howard Jones (Blood Has Been Shed), who immediately proves that he can not only match Leach scream-for-scream, but also has an almost classical, operatic style to his clean vocals that KSE took full advantage of writing the record.  Purists may cry, but you can’t argue with the results.  “End of Heartache” also sees the addition of percussion powerhouse Justin Foley in place of Tom Gomes, and once again, you can’t argue with what thunders out of your speakers.
            For the uninitiated, KSE basically sounds like a gigantic wrecking ball of hardcore fury, thrash-metal-tight riffing, gutteral screams, anthemic clean vocals, and smashing breakdowns that can be appreciated by metal fans and non-metal fans alike.  Much like their previous effort, the excellent “Alive or Just Breathing”, this album packs one hard-hitting bruiser after another with some of the best hooks the genre has to offer.  Check the track-by-track synopsis for more details.

SONGS

Right from the beginning of the ominous album opener “A Bid Farewell”, you can tell that this isn’t quite the same KSE as years past, but the song works and only heightens the anticipation of what’s to come, which is the excellent “Take This Oath”, featuring a guest appearance by none other than former vocalist Jesse Leach.  “When Darkness Falls” is a full-on exercise in hardcore brutality with a grandiose chorus that’s guaranteed to stick in your head for days, and “Rose of Sharyn” is yet another straight-ahead rocker that was an excellent choice for the album’s first single.  “Inhale” is really just an instrumental prelude to the terrific thrash-esque riffing of “Breath Life”, which is (unfortunately) the only song on the record with a real guitar solo.  Next up, we’ve got the closest to a ballad that KSE will likely ever write in “The End of Heartache”, and while this one’s garnered its fair share of criticism for supposed “emo” leanings, but seriously, folks, saying “broken heart” in a song doesn’t make it emo.  Get over it.  Things get right back to the brutal with “Declaration”, a furiously paced thrasher with some of Jones’ most gutteral, visceral screaming on the record, and “World Ablaze” dares to slow the pace down considerably in an almost Pantera-meets-In Flames sort of way that works well, but not great.  “And Embers Rise” is another instrumental prelude to the anthemic “Wasted Sacrifice”, and the closer “Hope Is” is a straight up hardcore kick in the face and one of the best songs to be found on the whole record.

CONCLUSION

This is the album that really launched Killswitch into the mainstream of modern heavy music, and with good reason – it’s simply an excellent record through and through, although I have to say that I enjoy their sophomore record “Alive or Just Breathing” just a bit more.  There are a few inferior numbers here and there, but when Killswitch’s weaker tracks are still leagues better than the constant slew of imitators that try to rip off their style, you know you’ve got a winner.

Review by Matt Rewinski

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All images, logos, and pictures are trademarks or registered trademarks of Saviours Of Rock or their respective owners, and are protected by copyright laws in the USA, Australia and other countries.  Except as required for normal use by a viewer of this web-site, nothing pertaining to this web-site or  its contents may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or  by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the express written consent of Saviours Of Rock or its respective owner.

Copyright ©2006 Saviours Of Rock TM. All Rights Reserved.