Killswitch Engage - Disarm the Descent
So, here we have it. The sixth full-length from New England Metalcore sensations Killswitch Engage; their first to feature original vocalist Jesse Leach since 2002’s Alive or Just Queefing. Before we get into the new record, allow me to give you my personal KSE timeline:
2000: Bought their first album. (Pretty much bought every Metalcore band’s album in 2000. People do silly shit when they’re 21.) Wasn’t impressed. Read the lyrics. All songs about deep-throating Jesus’ cock. Broke CD into little pieces.
2002: Avoided aforementioned 2nd LP. Not at all moved by “My Last Lemonade” single.
2004-2009: Exit Leach, enter Blood Has Been Shed vocalist Howard Jones. Finally digging me some KSE. Band penetrates Billboard Top 40, earns Grammy nomination with Jones behind mic. According to racial stereotype, Jones’ dick also bigger than Leach’s.
2012: Jones diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Disease presumably acquired from having to constantly look at Adam Dutkiewicz’s happy, smiling face. Decides to quit band.
Which leads us to the present. Leach is back, meaning more songs about how the plagiarized stories of Osiris —that’s right, Christians… you actually worship Egyptian gods— get him through tough times (such as long drive-thru lines at Starbucks). This time his adoration of the lie is more subtle. In the past he would’ve belted, “Oh, my sweet shepherd Christ / I long for you to shower my back with your holy Jew seed.” Nowadays it’s more like, “I look to the sky and know the time will come.” I will admit, Leach does have his moments… unfortunately all of those moments are on Nothing Stays Gold’s self-titled EP many moons ago. On Disarm the Descent, his harsh vocals sound like an angry bull dyke, his clean vocals sound like sad prayers to Jesus’ gaped asshole. Listening to him attempt bouts of soulful, operatic singing in the wake of the departed Jones is downright laughable. Musically this is Non-Threatening Radio Metal 101. All traces of heaviness, pit riff bravado, and heartfelt melancholy have been wiped clean and replaced with substandard PG-13 melodic sap. No wonder temporary fill-in vocalist Phil Labonte of All That Remains turned down the job. He wouldn’t have been able to tell his bands apart. All of the passion and sincerity left with Howard Jones. The only positive to take away from this lackluster Hot Topic fodder is the hope of a new Blood Has Been Shed LP.
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