Killswitch Engage – This Consequence | Album Review

Nine albums and over 25 years into an illustrious career filled with highs and lows, will the new Killswitch Engage album be the one that breathes new life into the pioneering modern metalcore band?

So many bands seemingly exist at certain stages in their career to prove the law of diminishing returns correct. Lack of creativity, going on autopilot or simply running down long contracts are just some of the reasons a band’s decline can occur, but often it can just boil down to having nothing to say worth listening to any more. The signs can be spotted, the phoning in can be sniffed out by the more attentive fan and when it’s noticed, it can’t be unseen.

On Killswitch Engage’s last record, Atonement, the vultures were circling. Despite massive tracks like ‘The Signal Fire’ and ‘Crownless King’ (both of which featured guest spots that overshadowed the band themselves), there was a sense of safety and a distinct lack of edge on the record. With a six year gap between that release and this brand new one, longtime fans of the band began to worry that the course had been run, that we were witnessing the death rattle of the metalcore pioneers. Comparisons with other bands seem a moot point, as this sounds intrinsically Killswitch Engage and couldn’t really be anyone else. It would also be unfair to judge a band 25 years into their career against younger bands emulating their sound such as Polaris or Currents. However, other bands of their vintage, such as Unearth and Darkest Hour have produced good to great records in the last few years so what’s stopping Killswitch Engage from pulling something out of the bag?

This Consequence arrives with interest already piqued, but perhaps not for the right reasons. The ninth album from the Massachusetts breakdown purveyors, they’re no strangers to a creative dry spell, with their self titled effort with former vocalist Howard Jones remaining a low point in their discography. ‘Forever Aligned’, the first new music from the band in six years did little to allay fears, being a little too paint by numbers and existing in the safe, middle ground of the band’s sound.

Thankfully, the record as a whole fares a lot better, honing in on their strong sense of melody and letting Adam D shine in a way he hasn’t for years. The band stated that this is the first time they’ve recorded in the same room for many years and it does feel a lot more natural in its approach. There may be no track as anthemic and earth shattering as ‘The Signal Fire’, but there are far less lows on this record than the previous. Songs like ‘Discordant Nation’ are filled with anger and satisfyingly blistering drums which bring to mind parts of Disarm the Descent with their barrelling, machine gun riffing.

As usual, lyrically this album is wracked with delves into Jesse Leach’s mind and his battles with mental health, with a focus on seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. This makes the album a satisfying, punch the air kind of listen because the passion and honesty that radiates from Jesse’s voice is strong enough to get through to even the most stoic of souls. There’s also tracks about the state of the world and the effect that it and the people in it can have on you, which is par for the course. Tracks like ‘Aftermath’ and ‘I Believe’ are some of the better offerings in the album’s first half, while in the latter half it all belongs to ‘Broken Glass’. One of, if not the the heaviest tracks the band have made in the last decade, it’s definitely more hardcore in nature than anything else. It stands out because across This Consequence‘s ten tracks, it’s the one that deviates from their entrenched formula the most.

There’s more to love than dislike on This Consequence as there’s no outwardly bad tracks. Sure, there’s some songs that blend into each other, particularly on the latter half of the record and this is probably the band’s first record that doesn’t have a ready made anthem as a lead single. Some songs may be growers or able to become fan favourites but there is a relative lack of star power.

The phrase “steady as she goes” is perhaps the best descriptor for This Consequence, as it’ll do nothing that will massively shock and awe you but neither will it leave you looking longingly back at their past work. It remains to be seen however, if this is a band who thinks they’ve got enough in the creative and passion tanks to make it to album ten. Bleeding Through just put out their ninth record and in comparison, it’s a massive step above this one but if this is the record that rights the bands trajectory, then it’s one they needed to make. The band will undoubtedly make sure that these tracks have the necessary impact live and a few might even make it as staples into the live set, but ultimately it’s a step short of the standards their peers have set.