Killswitch Engage Singer Jesse Leach Discusses New Album

2012-11-23

Story by Charles Ken

Killswitch Engage frontman says playing live shows helped shaped the band’s upcoming album

Killswitch Engage are back with original vocalist Jesse Leach, and the gents set off on a month-long North American tour Saturday (Nov. 24), bringing songs off their 2002 release “Alive or Just Breathing” to the metal masses. Killswitch Engage’s upcoming full length is pretty much finished, and Leach says recordings session for the new release were “intense,” in a good way.

“I had a loose idea of what I wanted to do with the direction of the lyrics, and the good thing is we had started the record before touring,” Leach told Roadrunner Records. “I didn’t feel satisfied, I felt a lot of pressure to get so much done in such a short amount of time, and my mindset was like, ‘Well, I can write this record now, and try to get it done before we tour, or we can go out on the road, and I can live with these guys and get back into the feel of things, and have sort of a better perspective on my role in the band.’”

He added that playing live shows back with the band helped smooth out any kinks during the album’s recording process. “For me, it felt better to get back out there on the road and live, and that helped the record out a lot,” he said. “Cause just seeing how these guys interact with the fans, hearing the stories from the road, catching me up to speed over nine years of stuff that’s been going on … and reflecting on my own personal life, and thinking wow, it’s been a decade since I’ve been in this band.

“My life has changed so much. So I think that was the trigger for me, was reflecting on the past, reflecting on their past, and kinda tying it all together. And it’s kind of a concept record in a way. It’s really about suffering in life, and perseverance.”

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Charles Ken

Meet the expert - Charles Ken is a graduate of Michigan State University where he studied writing and history. He's a longtime music buff and covers classic rock for Audio Ink Radio. Contact him at ken@audioinkradio.com.