Killswitch Engage – This Consequence Review

For starters, just to break the ice in this which will be a very professional review – or so – I will begin with two tracks that really called my attention. They are “I Believe” and “Where It Dies” whose guitar riffs are amazing with everything Metal music requires except a guitar solo. Oh, God, how I miss guitar solos here. I said professional because Killswitch Engage are a band that I had heard a lot about them, but never had the chance to check them out. Unfortunately, now that I have the chance I am obliged to say it is not really my kind of Metal music. By that, as my dear children of the night might know, I do not mean “This Consequence” is a bad album. It is not. Even for a Metalcore band.

“This Consequence” is a celebration of Killswitch Engage career’s 25th anniversary, which, by the way, it is always something to be praised. Analysing it in a very cold and distant professional manner, the album has its ups and downs as many albums I had the pleasure and honor to review here. The ups are the carefully layers and layers of guitars the band built here. They make the album worth it. The downs would be when they sound too modern. To be more precise, when vocals take the modern Metal road as in “Aftermatch” whose instrumentals are so cool, but so cool that reminded me of Metallica’s golden era of the downpicking James Hatfield made famous. The same happens to the introduction of “Forever Aligned” whose drumming is the hell of good plus the cool downtuned guitar riffs, one of the band’s signature, that let it even heavier. There is some Thrash Metal, more notably Metallica’s, intent in many tracks of the album, which, by the way, the ones I liked the most. Taking the same road, the initial guitar riffs of album warmer “Abandon Us” are just precious exactly because of this intent and the harsh and hard voice vocalist Jesse Leach gives to it. Ah, there is a guitar solo in it. Following the band’s guitar signature, the riffing in “Discordant Nation” is also the highlight plus the skillful drumming.

Taking a closer look to the album cover, it suits perfectly the idea of album tittle “This Consequence.” To some extent, the way I see it, the robots’ faces may represent an idea that may go from the artifical life we are living to the dreadful use of AI. It reminds a little some 1980’s album covers of a dystopic future many bands saw it coming. Maybe, just maybe, this cover is not about the future. It is about the present…

I have to admit I had my discordances with Killswitch Engage, but “This Consequence” is a hell of an album of guitars, even though I miss the solos. I cannot deny I love guitar solos because, in my mind, they are the essential signature of Metal music. Well, life goes on with us in it. One day or the other, we have to face our demons. Was I professional enough?

Killswitch Engage “This Consequence” will be released on February 21th via Metal Blade Records.

Track Listing:

01. Abandon Us
02. Discordant Nation
03. Aftermath
04. Forever Aligned
05. I Believe
06. Where It Dies
07. Collusion
08. The Fall of Us
09. Broken Glass
10. Requiem

Watch “Forever Aligned” official music video here: