On Tuesday, November 6, a benefit concert was held in NYC for Amnesty International and the American Red Cross Hurricane Sandy relief fund. The house band, led by guitarist Todd Youth, performed a set of Bad Brains covers, joined by a wide variety of guests, including legendary Bad Brains frontman H.R., country singer Steve Earle, John Joseph of the Cro-Mags, Kyp Malone of TV On the Radio, Vernon Reid of Living Colour…and Killswitch Engage‘s Jesse Leach. You can watch video of Jesse singing “I Against I” below.
Killswitch Engage will launch a North American tour on November 24, on which they’ll be performing their Roadrunner debut, Alive Or Just Breathing, in its entirety – find a show near you!
Massachusetts metallers KILLSWITCH ENGAGE will celebrate the 10th anniversary of their landmark release, 2002’s genre-defining “Alive Or Just Breathing”, by performing the entire album during their U.S. headlining tour in November/December. Support on the trek will come from SHADOWS FALL and ACARO.
The dates are as follows:
Nov. 24 – San Bernardino, CA – NOS Event Center (California Metalfest VI)
Nov. 25 – San Francisco, CA – Slim’s
Nov. 27 – Seattle, WA – Studio Seven
Nov. 28 – Portland, OR – Hawthorne
Nov. 30 – Boulder, CO – Fox Theater
Dec. 01 – Kansas City, KS – Beaumont Club
Dec. 02 – Dallas, TX – Trees
Dec. 04 – Tampa, FL – State Theater
Dec. 05 – Pensacola, FL – Vinyl
Dec. 07 – Asheville, NC – Orange Peel
Dec. 08 – Atlanta, GA – Masquerade
Dec. 10 – Chicago, IL – Bottom Lounge
Dec. 11 – Columbus, OH – Alrosa Villa
Dec. 12 – Toronto, ON – Opera House
Dec. 14 – Buffalo, NY – Town Ballroom
Dec. 16 – Lancaster, PA – Chameleon Club
Dec. 17 – Brooklyn, NY – Willamsburg Music Hall
Dec. 18 – Burlington, VT – Higher Ground
Dec. 19 – Northampton, MA – Pearl Street
Dec. 20 – Portland, ME – State Theater
A trailer for the tour can be seen below.
KILLSWITCH ENGAGE‘s April 22 performance at at the New England Metal & Hardcore Festival marked the band’s first concert with singer Jesse Leach in more than nine years.
Leach sang on the band’s first self-titled album, which came out in 2000, and on “Alive Or Just Breathing”. Leach left the band in 2002 and was replaced by Howard Jones, but his work on “Alive Or Just Breathing” has always been revered by diehard, longtime KILLSWITCH ENGAGE fans.
KILLSWITCH ENGAGE is hard at work on material for the follow-up to 2009’s second self-titled album. The new effort is tentatively scheduled for release in early 2013 via Roadrunner Records.
In an interview with the “Brock And The Fatguy” radio show, Jesse stated about KILLSWITCH ENGAGE‘s new material, “I have the 14 demos for the new KILLSWITCH record, and let me tell you, I’m glad that KILLSWITCH is gonna have the opportunity to write another record with me — or a few more, God willing. I can tell you right now from the demos, the people are gonna be really surprised; they’re setting the bar up high once again. It’s really fast and it’s really heavy. It’s not what people are going to anticipate, I’m sure. I literally am getting chills right now talking about it. It’s gonna blow the doors off people, man. It’s gonna be great.”
Metal Blast conducted an interview with bassist Mike D’Antonio of Massachusetts metallers KILLSWITCH ENGAGE backstage at the Heavy T.O. festival on August 12 at Downsview Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. You can now watch the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow.
Metal Blast: You have a segregation; the new fans, the old fans. Have you found any division between their acceptance of [returning lead singer] Jesse [Leach]… rather re-acceptance?
Mike: Not yet, not really. Which is great and phenomenal. That was one of our main concerns; can Jesse do the Howard [Jones] songs? That was one of the things we really had to figure out for ourselves before were like, “Cool, let’s go on the road,” and he proved to us that he wanted to do it. And we were, like, “Okay, I guess he knows those songs.” ‘Cause…he actually auditioned for the part and did an amazing job… he just blew us away. We had an entire day of auditions starting at 11:30 a.m., probably 15 or so characters come in through the door, by about 4:30 [or] 5 o’clock, we were all kinda beat, ready to go home. That was enough of playing the same three songs over and over again, ’till Jesse walked in the room. We proceeded to rock out 15 songs in a row; the spirit was back, the energy was back, all the smiles were there. That’s what you need.
Metal Blast: There’s been rumors that you guys have been touring then writing and recording on the side. I’ve heard something about maybe half an album being done… I’m just wondering, is there any truth to that rumour?
Mike: We have a good amount recorded. After this tour we’re on the Trespass [America] tour with FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, TRIVIUM, GOD FORBID, BATTLECROSS and a bunch of other bands and we specifically said, “Let’s go out and do some shows. Let’s have Jesse really get into the fold, really meld with us in the live thing again, really become a strong entity once more,” and this is the best way to get a crash course in hate and life by being on tour. But yeah, just to get him in the mindset, so we’re gonna go back and do some more vocals. So… the next 2 ½ – 3 months is just vocals, finishing up the record and being ready to go for the New Year.
Massachusetts metallers KILLSWITCH ENGAGE will celebrate the 10th anniversary of their landmark release, 2002’s genre-defining “Alive Or Just Breathing”, by performing the entire album during their headlining set at the California Metalfest VI, set to take place on Saturday, November 24 at the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino, California.
Ash Avildsen, founder of California Metalfest, had this to say: “‘Alive Or Just Breathing’ is one of the most important and timeless albums for this era of heavy music. KILLSWITCH ENGAGE‘s special headlining set combined with the rest of the lineup is going to make for an incredible day of metal and memories. Having all these bands in the same place on one day is really exciting both as a fan and as a festival producer.”
WWE superstar “Mankind” Mick Foley will host the festival, along with several other stars who will be doing signings and appearances. There will also be many carnival style prize games where fans can win special, limited-edition band merchandise and memorabilia instead of stuffed animals. California Metalfest VI promises to be much more of an experience than just a day filled with great music.
The festival billing is shaping up as follows:
AS I LAY DYING
ASKING ALEXANDRIA
ATTILA
BLACK VEIL BRIDES
BLEEDING THROUGH
BLESSTHEFALL
BORN OF OSIRIS
CHIODOS (W/ Craig Owens)
FOR TODAY
KILLSWITCH ENGAGE
MEMPHIS MAY FIRE
PIERCE THE VEIL
SHADOWS FALL
SLEEPING GIANT
SUICIDE SILENCE
THE ACACIA STRAIN
THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN
THE FACELESS
UNEARTH
UPON A BURNING BODY
VEIL OF MAYA
WINDS OF PLAGUE
Bassist Mike D’Antonio of Massachusetts metallers KILLSWITCH ENGAGE told BostonGlobe.com that the band’s split with Howard Jones was necessitated by the singer’s struggle with personal issues, including diabetes that had gone untreated for several years. “It became very apparent we had to move on without him,” D’Antonio said. “Howard didn’t quit.”
KILLSWITCH ENGAGE earlier in the year announced the return of Jesse Leach, who sang on the band’s first self-titled album, which came out in 2000, and on their landmark 2002 Roadrunner debut “Alive Or Just Breathing”. Leach left the band in 2002 and was replaced by Jones, but his work on “Alive Or Just Breathing” has always been revered by diehard, longtime KILLSWITCH ENGAGE fans.
“We heard Jesse was coming back in the band even before he said he wanted to be back in. He did eventually contact us, and said he was excited to come back,” D’Antonio told BostonGlobe.com. “But there was this little management voice in the back of our heads saying, ‘Make sure you make the right call on this.'”
KILLSWITCH ENGAGE is hard at work on material for the follow-up to 2009’s second self-titled album. The new effort is tentatively scheduled for release in early 2013 via Roadrunner Records. Basic tracks for around 16 songs have been laid down, and vocal ideas for two songs have been recorded, with one of them, “No End In Sight”, having recently leaked online.
“I didn’t write much for KILLSWITCH [in the last couple of years] because I didn’t know what was going to happen with the band,” D’Antonio said. “But I did write with my old OVERCAST bandmate (current SHADOWS FALL singer Brian Fair) in our side band DEATH RAY VISION. That got me back to my roots of playing really aggressive music, and that aggression bled all over the stuff I started writing for KILLSWITCH.”
Guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz of Massachusetts metallers KILLSWITCH ENGAGE recently spoke to AltPress.com about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band’s new album, tentatively due in early 2013.
“We’ve done basics for 16 songs, and we’ve got some vocal ideas down for two of them,” Adam says of the follow-up to 2009’s “Killswitch Engage” effort. “When we get [off the road] in September, we’ll put the finishing touches on the other 14. The two are just about completed. One of them actually leaked already somehow. Somebody at the record company who is an absolute idiot did it. The only bummer about it was the fact that it’s just not done. It would have been nice to have something a little more complete leak.”
KILLSWITCH ENGAGE has been performing the song that leaked, “No End In Sight”, during the band’s “Trespass America” tour with FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, TRIVIUM, EMMURE and more. Adam says, “We’re working out the kinks since we’ve barely played it as a full group, so the more we play it, the tighter it will feel. Kids seem to be responding to it pretty well, and I think we’re playing in front of a lot of new faces this tour, so it’s kind of a cool reaction, anyway. A lot of people just not really knowing what to expect out of us. It’s pretty cool.”
Regarding how the new material came together, Adam says, “We all try to come up with ideas on our own and then bring them to the table. I’ll just kind of come up with a song idea in my head, then put it together within Pro Tools and show everybody. Then all the lyric ideas kind of come last, so being without a vocalist wasn’t too inhibiting of our process. We want to make sure everybody has a say even on songs that somebody completely writes from start to finish. At the end of the day, we’re a five-dude band, not one-dude band.”
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s ASA unveil the long-overdue release of "Collective Failure" + first music video for title-track! Check it out and stay tuned for more news! Click image to watch the video
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s SARCOFAGUS return with a Historic 2010 Concert Video Premiere on YouTube! Click image to watch the video
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The festival billing is shaping up as follows:
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Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 