‘Disarm The Descent’ was a triumphant return for original Killswitch Engage vocalist Jesse Leach. The Long Island native handled lead vocal duties in the band’s early efforts but left the group in 2002. Replacement vocalist Howard Jones then fronted the group from 2002 through to 2012 before his very public departure. While Jones fronted the band, they enjoyed their most successful years and Killswitch Engage are considered one of the quintessential bands in this heavy music sub-genre. 2004’s The End Of Heartache was certified Gold (500,000 units) by the RIAA. Jones’s departure was a very tough time for the band and fans wondered what the future held, especially considering the slew of albums that had been released while Howard was the lead vocalist.
While Jones was present in Killswitch for their most commercially successful years, Jesse is irrefutably responsible for helping to shape the early sound of the band and their release Alive Or Just Breathing is considered one of the first “Metalcore” albums. As fans pondered who would handle future vocal duties, Leach was in the process of re-joining the group.
Several years prior, Guitarists Adam Dutkiewicz and Joel Stroetzel reunited with Leach to launch the metal/rock project project “Times Of Grace” which would foreshadow the plans to have Jesse back in Killswitch Engage. The band’s highly successful return and newest album Disarm The Descent showed they had grown more than ever. Now that Jesse has re-solidified his position into the Western-Massachusetts quintet they are moving ahead, determined and stronger than ever.
Jesse sat down to discuss the follow up to Disarm The Descent with Wikimetal and had this to say about the upcoming recording process: “After this South American run, we’re gonna take some time off and start demoing and start writing. We’re actually really looking forward to to getting some new material out. So, hopefully, by the end of this year, we’ll have some material ready to go. We’ll see what happens, but we’re definitely stoked on it.”
Catch the band on sporadic dates this fall including Knotfest at the end of October. The interview in it’s entirety can be heard below.