Music Banter - Killswitch Engage - Alive Or Just Breathing

Killswitch Engage - Alive Or Just Breathing
Released ~ May 21, 2002
Record Label ~ Roadrunner Records

1. Numbered Days
2. Self Revolution
3. Fixation on the Darkness
4. My Last Serenade
5. Life to Lifeless
6. Just Barely Breathing
7. To the Sons of Man
8. Temple from the Within
9. The Element of One
10. Vide Infra
11. Without a Name
12. Rise Inside

Killswitch Engage is a melodic metalcore band that formed in Westfeild,Massachutes in 1999. This band has been active from 1999 and is still going today. The line up of this band consists of the following.

Vocals: Howard Jones
Bassist: Mike D'Antonio
Guitarist 1: Adam D.
Guitarist 2: Joel Stroetzel
Drummer: Justin Foley

Killswitch Engage has released four studio albums and one DVD. Although this is the current lien up for this band, The vocals in this album were performed by Jesse Leache. The way Killswitch Engage was formed is, the two guitarists (Adam and Joel) band broke up. They the recruited a bassist drummer and vocalist to form todays massively popular metalcore band Killswitch Engage.

The name of this album is "Alive Or Just Breathing". This album is very good all of the way through. This album stands out from all of the others by the simple fact that it "just so happened" that this is the last album that Killswitch Engage released with the old lead vocalist Jesse Leache. This album is a great going away album. My personal favorite would be Track 4. Which is titled "My Last Serenade". This is my personal favorite because of his vocal style in it. (Along with all of the other great songs on this album.) The song starts out very quiet and rather "sad" sounding in the back groudn you can here a sad sounding male voice singing the lyrics "This is my last serenade". After about 45 seconds or so the real music starts with slow breakdown type style then fast schredding the starting lyrics would be "This revelation is the death of ignorance". He uses deep screams and high pitch screams. When the chorus comes along he calms down to a very beautiful singing voice and seems to talk to someone with great emotion in his voice the lyrics that start the chorus would be "This is my last serenade I feel you as you fall away,this is my last serenade, from yourself you can't run away". This album is full of emotion and great talent. This band is frowned apon by many people. If you give "My Last Serenade" a chance and listen to the song all of the way through your outlook on Killswitch Engage will most likely change. A couple of similar bands I would reccomend to people who like Killswitch Engage would be In Flames and Shadows Fall. If you like metalcore I would suggest you to look up the bands As I lay Dying and All That Remains also.