Albums: As Daylight Dies, The End of Heartache, Alive or Just Breathing

Killswitch Engage is a metalcore band from Westfield, Massachusetts, USA. Their sound mixes crushing riffs, double bass drum patterns, furious screaming-growling vocals and a dash of melodic elements. Their music is heavily influenced by the hardcore music scene.

A key feature of the band's sound is the use of complex palm muting, single-note and power chord riffs featuring dual-guitar harmonies, often punctuated with pinch harmonic squeals. Following the demise of his band Overcast in 1998, bassist Mike D'Antonio trawled the underground Massachusetts hardcore and heavy metal scene in search of a line-up for a new band. In 1999, D'Antonio met Adam Dutkiewicz and Joel Stroetzel, Aftershock's guitarists.

Dutkiewicz became the drummer, while Stroetzel remained on guitar. The trio searched for a vocalist and eventually hired Jesse Leach, formerly of Corrin and Nothing Stays Gold. The now four member band took the name of "Killswitch Engage", a name proposed by D'Antonio after watching an episode of the FOX television program The X-Files entitled "Kill Switch" by writer William Gibson after meeting Seattle industrial band Kill Switch...Klick.

While on tour with In Flames, the record label Ferret took notice of Killswitch Engage's aggressive live show. The band then signed with the record label and began recording their debut album. This their debut self-titled album was sufficient to earn the band a record deal with Roadrunner Records.

Soon after their signing to Roadrunner records, the band decided to become a five piece by bringing in former Aftershock drummer, Tom Gomes, whilst guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz formed the now guitar duo. In 2002 they released "Alive or Just Breathing", a successful record which greatly increased the band's exposure and placed them on the Billboard Magazine Heatseeker chart. The CMJ New Music Report described the record as "more addictive than crack cocaine that's been smothered in nicotine AND drenched with chocolate." Leach left the band in 2002 and was replaced by Howard Jones of Blood Has Been Shed on vocals, after Leach tore his vocal cords, and could no longer sing.

The new lineup played on the Road Rage tour in the UK and Netherlands in 2002 with 36 Crazyfists and Five Pointe 0, and continued touring throughout the rest of the year. In 2003 the band released the song "When Darkness Falls" which appeared on the soundtrack to the 2003 horror film Freddy vs. Jason.

The same year they also played the Ozzfest, after which drummer Tom Gomes left the band to live in Los Angeles with his wife and pursue their current band,Something Of A Silhouette. He was replaced by Jones' fellow Blood Has Been Shed band member, Justin Foley, who also played in the jazzmetal band Red Tide. Justin' first tour with the band was the MTV2 Headbangers Ball tours.

The band's third album, and the first to feature Jones on vocals, was The End of Heartache which was released on May 11 2004. The album ultimately went on to sell more than a quarter of a million copies in the U.S. It also debuted on the top 40 of the Australian album charts on May 17, 2004 following a successful tour of that country with Anthrax. In the later half of 2004, the band supported Slayer on their US Jagermusic dates, and headlined shows with From Autumn to Ashes, 18 Visions and 36 Crazyfists.

In addition, the track 'The End Of Heartache' became the main single for the movie "Resident Evil: Apocalypse", and in December 2004 the song was nominated in the 'Best Metal Performance' category for the 47th annual Grammy Awards. In late 2004, 'The End of Heartache' was re-released as a special edition album, with a second disc featuring live performances of 'Fixation on the Darkness', 'Life To Lifeless' and 'My Last Serenade' accompanied with two bonus tracks, the rerecorded 'Irreversal', featuring former vocalist Jesse Leach on chorus vocals, and 'My Life For Yours', the Japanese bonus track for the original release. During the summer of 2005, the band returned for another spot on the Ozzfest tour.

On November 1, 2005, 'Alive or Just Breathing' was re-released as part of Roadrunner Records' 25th anniversary. It was re-released with a second disc that contains 'In The Unblind', 'When The Balance Is Broken', 'Numbered Days (Demo Version)', 'Transfiguration (Demo Version of Fixation on the Darkness)', 'Just Barely Breathing (Demo Version)', 'Fixation On The Darkness (With Howard Jones On Vocals)', and 'AOJB Studio Out Takes', as well as the music videos for 'My Last Serenade', 'Fixation on the Darkness', and 'Life to Lifeless'. On November 22, 2005, KSE released a live DVD titled '(Set This) World Ablaze' which had a live concert the band taped during their stop at the Palladium in Worcester, MA on July 25 2005.

In addition to the live performance, the DVD also features an hourlong documentary about the band and all of their music videos. As I Lay Dying and Once Beloved also performed at this sold out concert. The band returned to Chicopee, Massachusetts on February 19, 2005, to play an unnanounced show in front of fans from the band's beginning days.

The show was an album release party for guitarist Joel's brother's band, Once Beloved. On the March 3, 2006 edition of WWE Friday Night SmackDown!, Superstar Randy Orton came out to new entrance music performed by the band, titled "This Fire". The theme will be featured in the upcoming WWE Wreckless Intent album.

The song is now used on a very regular basis by wrestler CM Punk. Their latest album, 'As Daylight Dies' was released on November 21st, 2006.The style is very similar to The End of Heartache, with more melodic rythms and soul crunching double bass. 'As Daylight Dies' is their most addictive release to date.

Kicked off by the cover of Dio's 'Holy Diver' the CD took off as a cult favorite. Other titles such as "My Curse" have been featured on video games such as Burnout Dominator and Guitar Hero III and features Howard Jones' heart pounding verses and melodic chorus and one of the metal riffs to date. Other songs that shine are 'This Is Absolution' and 'For You.'

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