Album Review: Disarm the Descent by Killswitch Engage

This is Killswitch Engage's most anticipated release since 2004's The End of Heartache. Much like how fans questioned whether replacement vocalist Howard Jones could fill the void left by Jesse Leach, they're now forced to wonder if Leach's return can reinvigorate the band. Fortunately, the answer is yes; Disarm The Descent is at least twice as good as 2009's uninspired Killswitch Engage.

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“All that we suffer through leads to determination / The trials we all go through gives us the strength to carry on,” sings vocalist Jesse Leach on the resolute “In Due Time” off Killswitch Engage’s sixth and latest studio release, Disarm the Descent. You see, Jesse Leach has another shot with the Massachusetts metalcore pioneers and this time he is determined to see things through. After the release of 2002’s metal game-changer Alive or Just Breathing, Leach quit the band because of personal problems leaving Killswitch Engage on the cusp of greatness without a singer.

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Though their (second) self-titled album found Killswitch Engage reintroducing themselves as a more accessible, albeit still plenty frenzied, metalcore band, their sixth album, Disarm the Descent, feels as though they're reintroducing themselves not to the audience, but to one another. Returning to the band after the departure of Howard Jones in 2012, original vocalist Jesse Leach finds himself once again picking up vocals duties after parting ways with the group in 2002. Though Leach was a part of the band during their formative years, over a decade has passed since then, and while the performances by all parties involved here are certainly solid ones, they don't quite capture the raw power of their earlier work.

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