Gothic Theatre

Killswitch Engage / In Flames

Things couldn’t have been more perfect for Killswitch Engage in the beginning of 2002. The band signed to Roadrunner after issuing its self-titled debut on Ferret Music. In May, KsE released Alive Or Just Breathing, which would go on to be lauded by critics and fans alike as a true metal masterpiece, thanks to its melodic underpinnings and its seamless fusion of European thrash metal and American hardcore.
Alive Or Just Breathing burrowed itself atop the American metal radio charts for a month straight. Tours with Soilwork and Hypocrisy were in the bag, and a tour with Kittie, Poison The Well, and Shadows Fall beckoned on the horizon. The album sold steadily (and in fact, continues to sell even when the band isn’t on the road). 2002 was looking to be the summer of summers for Massachusetts’ Killswitch Engage, and all the right pieces of the puzzle were in place.

Seldom does the formation of a new band create the kind of anticipation that has awaited the arrival of Massachussets’ Killswitch Engage.

When the legendary Overcast broke up in late 1998, a chapter in metal history sadly closed. Overcast helped give birth to the metalcore movement, which has become the dominant style of hardcore today. But Mike D’Antonio, Overcast’s leader and principal songwriter, still had a lot of music in him, and spent a year working with careful deliberation to find co-conspirators to help take metal to a new level.

Mike began collaborating with Aftershock guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz in the summer of ‘99 and they were soon joined by Aftershock guitarist Joel Stroetzel. excited about the direction the music was going, they started looking for a vocalist to complete the vision. as luck would have it, former Corrin/Nothing Stays Gold vocalist Jesse Leach became available. With this impressive pedigree, Killswitch Engage hits the ground running. Killswitch debuted as an opener for In Flames, and judging from the early reaction, has apparantly hit a nerve. Their self-titled first LP is the result of four consummate creators fusing their talents to produce a record of breathtaking originality and sophistication. Those familiar with the band member’s prior projects will be pleasantly surprised by the precision and ferocity of Killswitch Engage, as well as the unexpected dose of vocal melodicism. The album was engineered by drummer Dutkiewicz at Zing Studios in Westfield, Massachusetts. The music is technical, energetic and passionate. The lyrics represent a refreshing departure from the obvious.

“Killswitch Engage” is a monster debut, a classic piece of metal ear candy, that is destined to become a “must have” milestone record.
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After leaving Ceremonial Oath in the late ‘80s to form In Flames, founding member and guitarist Jesper Stromblad saw this project as a way of expressing his song writing creativity rather than being stuck in the background. With his added influences of Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and his own touch of aggressive metal acts that overwhelmed home country of Sweden, Wrong Again Records took notice and released In Flame’s 1993 debut Lunar Strain. In the tradition of many other Swedish metal acts, In Flames also had a revolving line up that changed year after year, not that this was going to stop them from releasing their next two records Subterranean (1994) and The Trooper (1995) before signing to Nuclear Blast Records in 1996. After putting out The Jester Race album later on that year followed by 1997’s Whoracle, In Flame’s line up was finally settled with Bjorn Gelotte (drums), Anders Friden (vocals), Peter Iwers (bass) and David Svensson (drums). To celebrate, the band released their sixth album Colony in 1999. Clayman followed in the same vein the next year, and the band even managed to keep the same lineup for this release. The live Tokyo Showdown appeared to promote their tour in 2001.