Killswitch Engage is an American metalcore band from Westfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1999 after the disbanding of Overcast and Aftershock. Killswitch Engage's current lineup consists of vocalist Jesse Leach, guitarists Joel Stroetzel and Adam Dutkiewicz, bassist Mike D'Antonio, and drummer Justin Foley. The band has released eight studio albums and three live performance albums. Their eighth studio album, Atonement, was released on August 16, 2019.
Alive or Just Breathing is the second studio album by American metalcore band Killswitch Engage. It was released on May 21, 2002, through Roadrunner Records. Alive or Just Breathing was Killswitch Engage's first album on Roadrunner and was recorded from October 2001 to February 2002. Produced by drummer and guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz, this was the band's first album on a major label, which prompted them to write and record the album to the best of their abilities. Alive or Just Breathing has been viewed as a landmark album in the metalcore genre and was well praised upon its release by fans and critics. The lyrics, which were all written by vocalist Jesse Leach, were intended to bring a positive message through the music.
Melodic death metal is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal. The genre features the heaviness of death metal but with highly melodic or harmonized guitar riffs and solos, and often features high-pitched shrieked vocals alongside the low-pitched growls commonly featured in traditional death metal. Pioneered by the English heavy metal band Carcass with their 1993 album Heartwork, melodic death metal developed further in Sweden in the mid-1990s. The Swedish death metal scene did much to popularise the style, soon centering in the "Gothenburg metal" scene. At the Gates' Slaughter of the Soul, Dark Tranquillity's The Gallery, and In Flames' The Jester Race, all released in the mid-1990s, were highly influential albums in melodic death metal, with At the Gates and In Flames being the two most common influences on North American 2000s heavy metal bands. Many American heavy metal bands emulated At the Gates' sound, resulting in the usage of the phrase "At the Gates worship".
Metalcore is a fusion genre combining elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk, that originated in the late 1980s. Among other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of breakdowns, which are slow, intense passages conducive to moshing. Other defining instrumentation includes heavy guitar riffs often utilizing percussive pedal tones and double bass drumming. Vocalists in the genre typically perform screaming, more popular bands often combine this with the use of standard singing, usually during the bridge or chorus of a song. However the death growl is also a popular technique within the genre.
As I Lay Dying is an American metalcore band from San Diego, California. Founded in 2000 by vocalist Tim Lambesis, the band's first full lineup was completed in 2001. The band has released seven albums, one split album, and two compilation albums.
Between the Buried and Me, often abbreviated as BTBAM, is an American progressive metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina. Formed in 2000, the band consists of Tommy Giles Rogers Jr., Paul Waggoner, Dan Briggs, Dustie Waring (guitar) and Blake Richardson (drums).
Killswitch Engage is the debut studio album by American metalcore band Killswitch Engage, released July 4, 2000 through Ferret Music. The album is the only release ever by Killswitch Engage to be released through Ferret, the band would later be signed to Roadrunner Records, where their follow-up LP, Alive or Just Breathing was released. The band's debut is considered to be one of the first ever successful albums in the metalcore genre, garnering a re-release five years after its original pressing. No songs in the album were released as singles.
Jesse David Leach is an American musician, best known as the lead vocalist of the metalcore band Killswitch Engage. He is also a vocalist for Times of Grace and The Weapon. Leach co-founded Killswitch Engage in 1999, but left the band in 2002; in February 2012, he rejoined the group following the departure of vocalist Howard Jones. He currently resides in the Catskill Mountains in New York. He is a devoted Christian.
Michael D'Antonio is an American musician, best known as the bass guitarist and founder of the metalcore band Killswitch Engage. He is also the founder and bassist of the bands Overcast and Death Ray Vision.
Brian James Fair is an American musician from Massachusetts, best known as lead vocalist of the metalcore band Shadows Fall. He graduated from Milford High School in 1993, and went on to study literature at Boston University.
Unearth is an American metalcore band formed in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1998. The group consists of vocalist Trevor Phipps, lead guitarist Buz McGrath, rhythm guitarist Peter Layman, bassist Chris O'Toole and drummer Mike Justian. They are currently signed to Century Media Records and have released eight studio albums. Their most recent studio album, The Wretched; the Ruinous, was released on May 5, 2023.
Blood Has Been Shed was an American metalcore band based in Granby, Connecticut. The band came together in 1997 and has featured members of Killswitch Engage, Diecast, Light the Torch, Red Tide, Terror, Walls of Jericho, Bury Your Dead and The Acacia Strain. Blood Has Been Shed has released three full-length albums—I Dwell on Thoughts of You (1998), Novella of Uriel (2001) and Spirals (2003)—and was signed to Ferret Music and Roadrunner Records. The band was a frequent performer at metal festivals Hellfest and the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival.
The Stings of Conscience is the debut studio album by American metalcore band Unearth, released in 2001. The album was produced by Adam Dutkiewicz of Killswitch Engage.
Seemless was an American rock/metal group formed by ex-Shadows Fall/Unearth drummer Derek Kerswill, Killswitch Engage vocalist Jesse Leach, and ex-Overcast/Killswitch Engage guitarist Pete Cortese.
The new wave of American heavy metal was a heavy metal music movement that originated in the United States during the early–mid 1990s and expanded most in the early to mid-2000s. Some of the bands considered part of the movement had formed as early as the late 1980s, but did not become influential or reach popular standing until the following decade. The term itself borrows from the new wave of British heavy metal dating to 1979. NWOAHM includes a wide variety of styles, including alternative metal, groove metal, industrial metal, nu metal and metalcore. The term was reportedly coined by Mark Hunter, vocalist of the American metalcore band Chimaira, in 2001.
Reborn to Kill Again is an album by the American metalcore band Overcast, which was released on August 19, 2008. It contains eleven classic tracks and two unreleased songs.
Death Ray Vision is an American hardcore punk band from Massachusetts. The band includes members and former members of the bands Killswitch Engage, Shadows Fall, Cannae, Seemless, and Overcast.
Disembodied is an American metalcore band formed in 1995 in Minneapolis. Originally featuring Aaron Weseman (vocals), Justin James Kane (drums), Tara Johnson (bass), Joel Andrew Johnson (guitar) and Mario Diaz de León (guitar), the band split up in 1999 and reunited in 2008 and 2018, respectively.
