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Obligatory photo of the band.
Killswitch Engage is a five-piece Metalcore band from Westfield, Massachusetts, formed in the late nineties. The band currently consists of vocalist Jesse Leach, guitarists Joel Stroetzel and Adam Dutkiewicz, bassist Mike D'Antonio and drummer Justin Foley.
Original singer Jesse Leach was replaced with former Blood Has Been Shed singer Howard Jones for almost a decade, before returning when Howard quit.
The band has released five studio albums to date. MTV once called the band one of "the founders of Metalcore", which is actually inaccurate as the first metalcore bands were from the early nineties and consisted of bands like Integrity and Earth Crisis. At any rate, Killswitch Engage are one of the most popular heavy groups around today, and are known as forerunners in the New Wave of American Heavy Metal, along with other popular heavyweights such as Lamb of God.
Killswitch Engage contains the following tropes:[]
- Bald Black Leader Guy — Howard Jones.
- Careful with That Axe — "My Curse" and the start of "Rose of Sharyn".
- Grief Song — "My Curse" and "Rose of Sharyn."
- Heavy Metal — Though some purists would argue that since they're metalcore, they're merely a form of hardcore punk...
- Lyrical Dissonance — They have tons of aggressive, super heavy songs with surprisingly positive lyrics.
- Metalcore
- Metal Scream — In every song. Even "Holy Diver".
- Mood Whiplash — "My Last Serenade" opens with quiet ambient sounds, gentle acoustic guitar, and soft singing before launching into a steam-rolling metal assault.
- Same thing with "My Curse," which starts with melodic, lightly distorted guitar chords that segue into a crushing riff and a Metal Scream.
- Mohs Scale of Rock and Metal Hardness: Definitely around an 8. Think about it, and it's probably gonna be hard to say otherwise.
- Name's the Same: If it's possible to do so, try not to mistake this frontman with that other Howard Jones.
- Not Christian Rock --The band is often assumed to be Christian due to former vocalist Jesse Leach's faith.
- Which is kind of doubly ironic, given that WWE Superstar Christian is such a fan he renamed his Finishing Move after them.
- Obsession Song — Quite a few of them.
- Older Than They Look — Believe it or not, Howard Jones is 41.
- The Pete Best — Jesse Leach. If anybody knows of him, it's because of "My Last Serenade",
- Refrain From Assuming — "My Curse" getting called "This is My Curse". Overlaps with Gannon Banned.
- Self-Titled Album — Their debut.
- And their fifth album.
- Subdued Section — The band utilizes this trope very often; "Desperate Times", "The Arms of Sorrow" and "The End of Heartache" are examples.
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!! — Prechorus of "My Curse".