Tag: Metal Blade Records

Killswitch Engage – “This Consequence” review

Killswitch Engage are a metalcore band consisting of bassist Mike D’Antonio, lead guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz, rhythm guitarist Joel Stroetzel, drummer Justin Foley & frontman Jesse Leach. A dominant force in the subgenre spanning 25 years off their eponymous debut, Alive or Just Breathing, The End of Heartache, As Daylight Dies which was my favorite of the Howard Jones era, their 2nd eponymous album produced by Brendan O’Brien, Disarm the Desccent, Incarnate & more recently their Metal Blade Records debut Atonement. The band who wrote “This Fire Burns” for Monday Night RAW superstar, former 6-time WWE world champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE tag team champion, 2-time AEW World Champion, inaugural ROH Hall of Fame inductee, ROH World Champion, 2-time ROH World Tag Team Champion & 5-time IWA World Champion CM Punk who later albeit unsuccessfully competed in the UFC division of the WME Group-owned TKO Group Holdings took 6 years off & are finally returning for their 9th studio LP.

“Abandon Us” sets the tone with this melodic metalcore intro airing out every single last person who turned their backs on them whereas “Discordant Nation” infuses more elements of melodic death metal into their sound so they can create a more metallic & melodic style of the metal/hardcore punk hybrid subgenre they’re known for suggesting to yield & bend a knee. “Aftermath” promises to give Jesse’s life to save this individual although it’s too late while the single “Forever Aligned” sings about connection & the spiritual energy that bonds us as humans.

Meanwhile on “I Believe”, we have Killswitch Engage mixing alt-metal influences with melodic metalcore confident of not being led astray & brighter days ahead just before “Where It Dies” singing about it being too late for one’s repentance & suffering Jesse’s vengeance because of it. “Collusion” observes the whole world being a conspiracy these days leading into “The Fall of Us” singing about bitterness overtaking an individual they knew. “Broken Glass” tells those who speaks in shards of shattered glass that they’ll suffer the consequences & “Requiem” ends by promising this isn’t the end.

Instead of making something contrasting from anything the band has previously done, This Consequence encapsulates of the things that fans have come to love from Killswitch Engage throwing it back to the Alive of Just Breathing era albeit making it feel modern. The energy is noticeably different from any of their recent material & they prominently address the topic of societal division in light of Donald Trump’s 2nd presidential inauguration last month cautioning the repercussions of our actions will come back to bite us in the ass in due time.

Score: 3.5/5

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6 Feet Under – “Nightmares of the Decomposed” review

This is the unlucky 13th studio LP of original material from Tampa, Florida death metal band 6 Feet Under consisting of bassist Jeff Hughell, drummer Marco Pitruzzella, lead guitarist Ray Suhy, secondary guitarist Jack Owen & finally frontman Chris Barnes. The latter of whom co-founded Cannibal Corpse, dropping some of the greatest material throughout one of metal music’s extreme subgenres including Tomb of the Mutilated & The Bleeding under Metal Blade Records. Chris would eventually be fired during the Created to Kill sessions & that’s what lead to Haunted dropping. Maximum Violence however has always been my personal favorite, although Nightmares of the Decomposed was poised to be as unbearable as the Graveyard Classics series of covers.

“Amputator” begins with this forgettable death metal/death ‘n’ roll intro talking about severing limbs whereas “Zodiac” continues with laughably bad mutation of death ‘n’ roll & groove metal & that’s because of Chris’ vocals. “The Rotting” unfortunately doesn’t make anything better pronouncing the titular word using this grating “EEEEE” just before “Death Will Follow” gargles about one’s demise coming after their throats are slit.

We get some more meat & potatoes death metal on “Migraine” delivering some of the most unintelligible vocals on the entire full-length ironically summing up how it feels listening to it leading into “The Noose” being a further exemplification of Chris Barnes’ decline in terms of performances bringing back the nauseating “EEEEE” bullshit from “The Rotting” to end the 1st half. “Blood of the Zombie” goes death ‘n’ roll mode again to put us inside the shoes of the undead in a below average manner & “Self Imposed Death Sentence” feels like being in the way of his own progression.

“Dead Girls Don’t Scream” winds down the last act of this chore of an LP detailing him murdering a slut because he couldn’t go on without her & no one else having her if he couldn’t while “Drink Blood Get High” details him being amongst the dead with a gorging urge to kill. “Labyrinth of Insanity” cautions there being no way out of this maze of torture and deceit that’s really a pit to hell & darkness, which is false because “Without Your Life” finally puts Nightmares of the Decomposed out of it’s misery remorselessly killing someone in a frenzy.

A lot of 6 Feet Under’s output for the last 2 decades have come NOWHERE close to their earlier output in terms of enjoyability but if there was a moment in their career where they would make something as equally hideous as their cover series, Nightmares of the Decomposed takes the cake with what could likely be regarded as one of if not THE worst death metal ever recorded. The production including secondary influences of death ‘n’ roll & groove metal doesn’t really add anything to those particular styles & Chris Barnes’ vocals reach a brand new low of embarrassment.

Score: 0/5