For those who have ever wondered what Killswitch Engage would be like―and I know every fan has―if original vocalist Jesse Leach had stayed with them, you may finally get a little bit of an idea with the release of Hymn of a Broken Man by Times of Grace. It’s the creative collaboration of lead Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz and Jesse that’s sure to take fans of Killswitch Engage (obviously!), All That Remains, Shadows Fall and anything else related to what the Massachusetts based metal scene has been spitting out over the last decade or so.
The album starts out with “Strength In Numbers”, a track that fades in with a marching style beat on the snare and then kicks in for the attack with a rather inspiring manifesto by Leach that’s sure to rile up any moshpit across the nation… and even the world. Right off the bat you will be impressed by the work he’s put into his vocals since his time in Seemless and even The Empire Shall Fall.
Now don’t expect any two songs on this album to be the same, it seems to have a very healthy range of everything to do with rock and heavy metal without straying too far from their individual style. Such as the song “Until the End of Days” which picks up with a clean melody with a touch of delay to give it a ballad kind of feel to it, but then hooks you with a sluggish stoner rock type of chorus. It’s definitely a song that can send you on a roller coaster of emotional trances.
The boys even extend out to “The Forgotten One”, an all-acoustic track that begins with a mellow blues lick and carries on in a style reminiscent of Bad Company and Zakk Wylde’s solo work. It’s definitely a little more radio-rock friendly than most would expect of them but still carries out a darker yet heartfelt tune that’s sure to capture the attention of just about any listener.
Now I wouldn’t make a solid judgment just on these examples, there is still plenty of hard hitting riffs and breakdowns to please any metal connoisseur yet leave room for the listeners who enjoy the more smooth side of metal while hitting all the stops between the two extremes. This is definitely an album that will have a song for virtually any mood one would happen to be in at any given time.
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The Empire Shall Fall is a thousand times better, I was wanting so much more when i heard about this about a month ago.
on Jan 28th, 2011 at 09:40Great review man!
on Jan 29th, 2011 at 02:31Nice review man, though I was unimpressed with this one. I knew nothing of it until recently, got excited, listened to it, and immediately was disappointed. Some of the heavier/faster stuff is OK, but the rest I found boring. Oh well, The Empire Shall Fall is still awesome.
on Jan 29th, 2011 at 17:08The Empire Shall Fall is indeed much better. Also, I can’t stand Adam D for some reason.
on Jan 31st, 2011 at 13:43Hey guys thanks for the feedback, this was my first one too so i was a little unsure of how it would go over
on Feb 1st, 2011 at 01:01but yea i thought it could have used more tracks like strength in numbers though.
on Feb 1st, 2011 at 01:03