Bringing The Power Back

"I didn't even consider it; it wasn't even a thought in my mind,” Killswitch Engage frontman Jesse Leach responds when asked if he was mindful of the considerable legacy of the band's 2002 masterwork, Alive Or Just Breathing, when creating new disc, Disarm The Descent. “I was very much thinking in the now. I don't think it's healthy to look back and try to compare things. You can't do it. I was a different vocalist, a different person and it was a totally different vibe in the band back then.”

It's now easy to underestimate the influence the Massachusetts mob had on heavy music with Alive…, their second record. Fusing American hardcore and Swedish melodic death metal eventually became a saturated market, but at the time, the impact was monumental. One well-established publication even framed them as “the band to kill nu-metal” upon the album's release.

“It was pretty incredible,” guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz ponders a decade after the fact. “We just did the (tenth) anniversary tour where we played the entire record. It was amazing to see every night, how energised, people singing lyrics to these songs we wrote so long ago. That people still care about it hits you once in a while; 'Wow, that was a long time ago and a lot of people like it still.' It's pretty crazy,” he laughs. “We definitely have moments on tour, where it's, 'This is insane, I can't believe how lucky we are to be able to do this.'”

Leach attributes the record's honesty and “coming from a totally different place than a lot of bands were” as primary reasons for its ongoing reverence. How much of that sentiment does Dutkiewicz feel is rooted in a case of right place, right time? “The music industry is such a tough gig,” the axeman agrees. “You really have to know the right people and write the correct song – a lot of things. We were just lucky enough to be there at that time and be able to do that. We're definitely lucky dudes.”

Dutkiewicz first noticed a significant changing of the guard when Killswitch Engage performed on the Ozzfest juggernaut following the release of Alive… “There was a lot of positive attention at the second stage, where all the smaller bands like us were playing. You could feel the excitement about the more aggressive, technical bands over there, (rather than) the 'I hate my mum, I hate my dad' kind of one-string riff. It was a cool thing to see, real metal bands getting attention.”

However, the then-newly married Leach walked soon after Alive… hit stores, replaced by Blood Has Been Shed man-mountain Howard Jones. The band subsequently enjoyed gold records and Grammy nominations but was eventually sidelined by the vocalist's own personal and health issues. Leach and Phil Labonte (All That Remains) filled in on tour, before Jones' proper departure was announced last year. Several weeks later the worst-kept secret in metal was confirmed when Leach returned.

His passionate, earnest lyrics on Alive… stirred audiences and during the new record he proclaims, “I would rather die than live my life in fear”, a mantra fans will warmly embrace. It's a line that would sound ham-fisted if spewed by most vocalists, but from Leach it feels strikingly real.

“[Lyrical inspiration] comes from all over the place, experiences from my life and the band's,” Leach explains. “When we got back together there was a lot of discussion about the past, a lot of discussion of what they had been through in the past nine years without me. I think that had something to do with it, and just my view on the world. I'm an observer, a writer. Everything comes into play. I try to write with a broad enough brush-stroke that people can draw their own conclusions. I try to write in such a way where people can gather their own inspiration and definition of what the song is. Because I think that's powerful in art.

“[Those lyrics], that's me talking about life. Just being a working-class guy my whole life; I still have that mentality. People call me a rock star, and I completely deny that title. I'm a working musician. I've toured, but I've also done jobs most of my life. Being working-class and that state of mind of you're just a gear in the machine, you're insignificant. I feel like a capitalist society really beats down people, and makes them look towards the government or whoever to validate their existence. That's my protest, that song's just about that hardcore/punk ethos of, 'You can make a difference, we can have our say.'

“I have changed a lot in the past ten years, various aspects of my life. The one thing I have kept intact was my hope for humanity, and also my disgust for humanity,” he laughs. “But I think those two things being juggled is constant motivation and inspiration. I think at the core of it is just wanting to let people know they don't have to settle. There's so much more to life than what meets the eye, on a spiritual level as well. That's one thing that has always stayed in my blood. Hearing the instrumentals when they gave me this record, it struck me immediately; 'This is going to be a powerful record for me.'”

A decade later it's impractical to expect Disarm The Descent to leave the same mark as its predecessor, either musically or message-wise. That said, devotees will also appreciate the record's more aggressive edge, something which Dutkiewicz laments was missing on 2009's self-titled album. “We're less concerned about radio than most other metal bands,” he admits. “I listen to a lot of aggressive music, so maybe there were a lot of those influences as well. I like that Jesse is one of those singers, everything he writes is spirited and heartfelt. He means what he's singing, and that's such a vital thing when you're a songwriter and a lyricist.”

Perhaps serving as an unintentional, albeit fortuitous stepping stone to the new material was the pair forming Times of Grace and releasing a full-length in 2011, which the vocalist describes as, “igniting the spark for me; I realised I could do this touring life”. “I think working in the studio and being able to go on the road with him and Joel (Stroetzel, guitars), to see how much fun touring could be with people that you're really close to (helped). I think most bands in their honesty would say there's one or two people in a band, or there's always a situation where you're on the road where things aren't that great. But touring with those guys, they're like family. So when the opportunity arose for me to rejoin Killswitch, there were many questions that were answered in my mind.”

His bandmate says it wasn't that simple though, as they received numerous applications from throughout the world. “We wanted to make sure we were doing the right thing and Jesse didn't actually have the job until he had an audition. We needed to hear what he sounded like when he did Howard's songs. We wanted to make sure he could represent Howard's songs well.”

Leach explains that it was difficult to watch the band's relationship with Jones unravel. However, he's audibly pleased with being back in the fold in a reunion fans clamoured for. “That record, they'd been waiting to do it for a year, but just problems with Howard and he didn't have the motivation to write. We were definitely there for each other. I would reach out, would get a phone call from Adam here and there. It was definitely hard to watch, to know the details nobody else knows.

“As friends, I'm proud to say we just banded together and even before I joined the band I heard the new record, just supported them and said, 'Hey, if you want to go do an Alive… reunion tour, just to make ends until you guys figure out what you're going to do with your singer, I'm down with that.' That was the first step that got me thinking, and probably got them thinking too. First and foremost, I wanted them to make the right decision as a friend, wanted them to be happy. Adam and I are very close; we have been for many years. I'm proud to say since rejoining my friendships have quickly increased to where I consider those guys my brothers, all of them.”

The guitarist is asked how so many years removed from the band altered the frontman. “To be honest, he's always been that person. It's just ten years ago he needed to find himself a bit more; I don't think he was ready to be in a full-time touring band. He'll admit that. He was having physical limitations with his throat and second thoughts about being away from his family. But now he realises if he takes care of himself, it's doable for him. He's doing his passion, what he loves.

“[The uncertainty surrounding a vocalist] was a bummer; you don't make money when you don't tour,” Dutkiewicz chuckles. “Everybody was like, 'Crap, what are we gonna do for money, this sucks.' I was working; I did a lot of records and kept busy. It just feels great to be back out there having a career again. We're lucky to have one.”

MAINTAINING THE HEAVY QUOTA

Aside from manning the desk for the band's own records, including Disarm The Descent, Dutkiewicz is a renowned producer of other acts. His résumé includes Shadows Fall, Underoath, As I Lay Dying, August Burns Red and countless others. By all reports the axeman is a hard taskmaster, but also a wacky personality who can instantly lighten the mood.

“He's hilarious and a madman, but it's great,” Leach laughs. “We're definitely the odd couple in more ways than one. He has strengths where I have weaknesses. He has a perfect pitch ear, knows songwriting. I'm a creative type, but I'm not a technical person. If you were to say to me, 'Sing in A or B', I don't know what the hell you're talking about. I can hear it in my head, but I may not know how to get it out.”

Another high-profile act the guitar-slinger has worked with is Australia's own Parkway Drive. The guitarist produced their first two albums, (2005's Killing With A Smile and follow-up, Horizons). However, in a Street Press Australia interview last year, Parkway Drive drummer Ben Gordon remarked of those records; “Adam D is really, really tight, like a drum machine. Everything is so perfect and, in a way, it makes it sound pretty lifeless.”

When the aforementioned comments are relayed to Dutkiewicz, he displays considerable diplomacy. “A lot of people don't like records that sound tight and sterile,” he admits. “I definitely get what they're saying, because I was forcing them to play as tight as possible. 'Cause at that point I was in that zone of trying to get records as tight as possible. But now I've actually changed a little, to stay in between. I like leaving things a little bit loose and believable. Because I think there's so many records out there nowadays that sound like that, like a grid-edited, perfectly put together Pro Tools record. I switched perspective a little, to getting the vibe of getting the players to sound human here and there. That's an important thing when making a record, because you want the songs to be able to translate live.” They've become our biggest heavy export since though, so he must have done something right. “Well, it's not me; it's mostly to do with them. They had the songs, man. Those were some pretty heavy songs.”

Killswitch Engage will be playing the following dates:

Saturday 23 February - Soundwave Festival, RNA Showgrounds, Brisbane QLD
Sunday 24 February - Soundwave Festival, Olympic Park, Sydney NSW
Friday 1 March - Soundwave Festival, Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne VIC
Saturday 2 March - Soundwave Festival, Bonython Park, Adelaide SA
Monday 4 March - Soundwave Festival, Claremont Showground, Perth WA