Killswitch Engage “The End of Heartache”
Roadrunner
Mixing melodic epic-metal guitar riffs with hardcore breakdowns,
Killswitch Engage has made its new album, “The End of
Heartache,” an intense, heavy and emotional amalgam that,
despite its highly polished production quality, will still appeal
to old fans, and probably pick up some new ones.
“The End of Heartache” starts off with the dreary
song “A Bid Farewell,” in which vocalist Howard Jones
pines, “I will bid farewell, sever the ties; is this all I
am, is this all that’s left?” Though most of the lyrics
sound like they are delivered through shattered glass, they deal
with themes of love and heartache, which work with the album title,
but not the music they are layered over.
In almost every track on the album, the chorus slows down and
Jones sings, instead of screams, in a very polished, almost
pop-rock kind of style. These transitions transform the entire feel
of the songs. Imagine a Slayer song with a chorus sung by Ryan
Adams and then going back to the chaos. As a result, the choruses
seem out of place, especially on the second track, “Take This
Oath.” The exception to this is “Wasted
Sacrifice,” where the “singing” part fits
seamlessly into the rest of the track, but this song is an
exception.
In the spirit of the metal in their “metal-hardcore”
genre, Killswitch Engage’s guitar parts are highly technical
and often fast, with both guitarists playing solos simultaneously.
This is by far the strength of the “The End of
Heartache”: Each solo is crafted differently and executed
perfectly.
But Killswitch Engage’s epic melodic creations don’t
quite make up for the sloppy layering of musical styles. There is
an immense disjuncture between the hardcore, metal and emotional
parts, which just don’t overlap well. The songs seem
cut-and-pasted together, and a more careful integration of the
different genre conventions would have better complimented the
moody talent of a band running deep with emotion.
-By Vasiliki Marras