Tag Archive: Killswitch Engage


Jesse Leach Reunites With Killswitch Engage

Filed Under: General News
Feb.07, 2012

The moment that Howard Jones left Killswitch Engage, the internet immediately buzzed with excitement over the possibility of a reunion with Jesse Leach. I mean, it was pretty much inevitable, right?

Well, apparently so! Metalsucks pointed everyone in the direction of the official KSE website to behold a new promo pic of the band, complete with original vocalist Jesse Leach. We’re only in February and it already looks like 2012 is the year of the reunion!

This is excellent news. Over the years, Killswitch have lost a bit of steam, so hopefully this happy reunion will cause a new creative spark in the band. There hasn’t been an official announcement just yet (we’ll update this post ASAP), but this pretty much confirms it. Hurray!

- JR

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We Ask You: Submit Your Candidates For New Killswitch Engage Frontman!

Filed Under: We Ask You
Jan.11, 2012

Short and sweet guys: who do YOU think should replace Howard Jones as frontman and vocalist of Killswitch Engage?

After the news that the big guy has left the band, speculation has been rife, and indeed, the band are looking for a replacement, so weigh in with your input!

Warning: anyone who says the words “Jesse” and “Leach” will be shot on sight.

- CG

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Howard Jones Gives Super Dramatic Reasons For Departure

Filed Under: General News
Jan.06, 2012

OMG most dramatic thing of 2012 evar! We learned on Wednesday that Howard Jones had left metalcore stalwarts Killswitch Engage, but we didn’t get the full reason. So was it the porn star thing? Drugs? Bust up over who had the biggest rider? Unfair share of groupies?

I’m kidding of course. It’s actually a very low-key and “fair enough” sort of thing.

“Well, I guess I will shed a little light without going too deep. As some of you may know, I’ve had a pretty interesting couple of years to say the least battling with some personal issues. One of the low points being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes that went unchecked for years. The rest of the band stuck with me through it, and to be honest they are the ones that kept me going. The whole experience definitely put a scare in me.

Recently we’ve all been in writing mode but somehow I couldn’t get excited about the new album and all the touring that would go with it. The guys saw it before I did. In hindsight I now realize that my heart wasn’t in it. I have had an amazing decade with KSE. I love Justin, MikeD, Joel and Adam for hanging in there and standing by me no matter how bad it was. I have so many good memories, and those are the ones that I will keep. Will I be involved in music again? Sure, I have been in bands for a little over half my life, can’t stop now. Until then, get the new KsE album, it’s going to be good. Thanks everyone for letting me try to entertain you, and I wish myself well in my future endeavors.

Gone fishin’

Howard”

So there you have it. Word on a replacement if and when.

- CG

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[UPDATE] Oceano Call It Quits

Filed Under: Another One Bites The Dust, General News
Jan.05, 2012

UPDATE: It would seem that Oceano are done for.

Just to clear everything up, Oceano is NOT looking for a new singer. New England Metal and Hardcore Festival will be one of the last Oceano shows ever, and yes, Adam will be there. Thanks for all of your support.

Tragic. [via Metal Injection]

Yesterday in the wake of all the shock and awe of Killswitch Engage moving on without vocalist Howard Jones, Lambgoat pointed out that Adam Warren has also apparently left Oceano. The coincidences don’t stop there; where I speculated that Howard leaving Killswitch may have been related to allegedly knocking up a porn star that one time, Adam left Oceano because all all the touring was apparently preventing him from seeing his son grow up. D’awwww.

Here’s what Adam had to say:

“I’m shocked [about Howard's departure], but well… If Killswitch can go on after 9 years and 3 albums without Mr. Jones on vox…. Why couldn’t a certain band with out me? (2 albums and a mere 3 years) Just sayin.”I got a son that’s growing quick to provide for and I don’t wanna miss a second of it. I keep it real. I’m workin on some projects here at home, they’ll pop up when I get time away from father duties to dig deeper.”
I don’t like Oceano at all, but my best wishes goes out to Adam. That’s a bold move, and he should be respected for being there for his family. There hasn’t been an official statement from Oceano yet, aside from jokingly asking for Howard’s demo. We might update you on their vocalist situation if we decide to care (or if Howard actually takes them up on the offer).
- JR
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Howard Jones No Longer In Killswitch Engage

Filed Under: General News
Jan.04, 2012

So this year so far has been about 50/50 in regards to good news vs bad news. I’m going to go ahead and chalk this up to some bad news. Howard Jones is no longer the vocalist of Killswitch Engage. Here’s the word, via the band’s official Facebook:

To our family, friends and fans: We have decided to continue on without Howard Jones as the singer of Killswitch Engage. We love Howard and are thankful for the nine years that we’ve had him in the band. Out of respect for everyone involved we will not be discussing the specific reasons behind this decision. Howard is a part of our family and always will be, and we wish him well. He has left big shoes to fill, so we certainly have our work cut out for us to find the next singer of Killswitch, something we plan on making priority #1 going forward. Most importantly, thanks to all of you for all the support throughout the years and for sticking by us for all this time. We really do appreciate it and we very much look forward to having a new record for all of you in the not too distant future that we can all be proud of. Sincerely, Adam, Joel, Mike & Justin.

This is news that is both shocking and totally expected. No one outside of the band seems to have heard from Howard since he allegedly knocked up a porn star a couple of years ago, which I am going to assume was actually the case and has left to do dad-like things. If that’s the case, then good on him! Who knows, though?! I’m kind of bummed about this because this band was one of the bands that got be into heavier music, but they haven’t put out anything I cared for since As Daylight Dies in 2006. We’ll just see what happens now.

We’ll be sure to let you know as soon as we hear about a replacement. Let’s see where this goes!

- JR

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Children of Bodom – Relentless Reckless Forever

Filed Under: Reviews
Mar.25, 2011

Children of Bodom

Relentless Reckless Forever

01. Not My Funeral
02. Shovel Knockout
03. Roundtrip To Hell And Back
04. Pussyfoot Miss Suicide
05. Relentless Reckless Forever
06. Ugly
07. Cry Of The Nihilist
08. Was It Worth It?
09. Northpole Throwdown

[03/08/11]
[Roadrunner]

Alright, so my review of the new Children of Bodom album, Relentless Reckless Forever—just go back to my recent review of Devildriver‘s Beast and replace all instances of the word “Devildriver” with “Children of Bodom”. The end.

But seriously, 2011 is shaping up to be the year-of-Jeff’s-favorite-bands-from-five-years-ago-all-put-out-new-albums.  Devildriver, Children of Bodom, Amon Amarth, Arch Enemy, In Flames, Chimaira, Meshuggah, plus probably a few more that I’m forgetting. If Machine Head, God Forbid, Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage, and Shadows Fall get albums out too (KsE and Shadows Fall won’t be, as far as I know) that would literally be like every band I listened to back then.  In a way, I’ve outgrown most of the bands I just listed (Machine Head and Meshuggah being glaring exceptions) but I still wish them the very best and will listen to anything they put out.

Unfortunately for five-years-ago-Jeff, between this album and Devildriver’s, we are now 0 for 2.

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Across the Sun – Before The Night Takes Us

Filed Under: Reviews
Mar.16, 2011

Across the Sun

Before The Night Takes Us

01. Tipping the Scales
02. Song for the Hopeless
03. Seasons
04. Descent & Discovery
05. Ghosts of Grandeur
06. Before the Night Takes Us
07. A Moment of Clarity
08. Blessing in Disguise
09. In the Face of Adversity
10. Belay My Judgement

[03/15/11]
[Metal Blade Records]

I’ve mentioned previously that it took me some time to get into Portland’s Across the Sun, and my sentiments are worth repeating; despite the cited progressive metal influence and labeling via recommendation, Across the Sun felt more like Killswitch Engage with keyboards and a more profound sense of melody and direction. This isn’t such a bad thing at all despite my slightly flippant tone, seeing as how I “grew up” on Killswitch (so to speak) and any improvement on that style is welcome. Good lord, is it ever welcome.

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Across The Sun Debut New Song, “Descent & Discovery”

Filed Under: Audio, New music, Upcoming releases, Video
Mar.02, 2011

Admittedly, I had a hard time getting into Across The Sun. I’ve heard them described as progressive, but from the beginning, they really only just sounded like Killswitch Engage with keyboards to me. I still don’t really hear anything proggy in the music itself outside of the keys, but the influence is undeniably there. Even still, Across the Sun are a good band and have certainly grown on me, and having been signed to Metal Blade records, I’m sure they’ll explode once their major label debut album Before The Night Takes Us drops March 15th.

The band uploaded a new song from said album called “Descent & Discovery” on their Facebook page, but for the sake of convenience, you can stream it on the SoundCloud player below.

After the jump, you can check out another new song from Across the Sun, “Song for the Hopeless.”

- JR

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Anyone Else Excited For Times of Grace?

Filed Under: Upcoming releases, Video
Jan.17, 2011

I used to be a Killswitch Engage nut, so naturally I am excited by the idea of guitarist/producer/songwriter/drummer Adam Dutkiewicz and vocalist Jesse Leach working together again on their new project Times of Grace.

Killswitch’s Alive or Just Breathing is still one of my all time favorites, thanks in no small part to Jesse’s roaring, dynamic vocals. So I can’t help but be pretty pumped for the Times of Grace album, titled Hymn of a Broken Man to drop this Tuesday, January 18th. It will interesting to see how their musical relationship has evolved, this being their first record together in nearly a decade.

Here’s their video for “Strength in Numbers.”

- JB

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Something Different: The Cover Up

Filed Under: Listen To This!, Video
Nov.02, 2010

After not having visited the blog for a few days due to some medical hiccups I stumbled upon Jimmy’s post detailing some of the complaints for the blog. One of them being variety of bands discussed at HBIH. I have to agree that what attracted me to this website was a similar interest in the musical genres of heavy music. While most of the music in my collection is under all the similar tags discussed here, some of it is not. Jimmy mentioned finding new writers with different interests to “broaden the spectrum,” but maybe I could encourage some of our current writers to write about bands they may feel would otherwise be considered “guilty pleasures.”

We all have them! With that being said, I’d like to introduce you to The Cover Up.

The Cover Up are a unique band from Arizona, and sadly are no longer in existence. I fell in love with them during their final line-up change, with their last album Monster Eats The Pilot. In their final line-up, I would describe The Cover Up as Pop, Punk, and Post-Hardcore. An odd group of genres indeed, but that’s what attracted me to them at the time. I was quite frankly burnt out on everything else “new” I was interested in at the time; both Suicide Silence’s No Time To Bleed and Killswitch Engage’s self-titled had left me disappointed with much hype for both (the reasons why are worth a whole other column.)

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