Disarm the Descent Tour
Bogarts – Cincinnati, OH
6/16/2013

I love Killswitch Engage.  I flat out think they are amazing.  Not only do they put on really great shows, but I believe they were instrumental in bringing clean vocals into the world of metalcore, which helped create and refine my favorite style of music.  So, needless to say, I’m a big fan, and I always have been.

…..BUT.  In my head, a BIG part of what made KSE so great was the aforementioned clean vocals by Howard Jones.  His booming, powerful vocals just really drew me to their music, and when I found out that he was leaving the band in 2012, I was really bummed.  They brought in original lead singer Jesse Leach, and so I was intrigued to find out how he would do.  There were several early signs that he might be great – first was a side project called Times of Grace, where he released an album with Adam D that was really good.  Next came the latest KSE release, called Disarm the Descent, which came out this April.  But the tell all would be their live show.  I had to know – was KSE better or worse off by swapping tried and true Howard for the original, refined Jesse.  As always, Bogarts got a bid on the Disarm the Descent tour.  KSE – lets do this.

First off – My Darkest Hour, Miss May I, and The Word Alive all three put on good shows as openers.  Solid playing by all three, and I gained a bit more respect for Miss May I, as they seemed to have graduated into “big boy” metal.  But, when it was time for Killswitch, the crowd (including myself) was just insane.  Like the young 20-somethings we are (false), we clawed our way all the way to the front to find out once and for all – could Jesse hang?

Welcome back Jesse!

Killswitch put on one hell of a show.  In terms of performance, Jesse integrated back into the mix flawlessly, like he’d been there the whole time.  Adam D was his usual self, and brought every ounce of energy that he has been bringing for the past 15 years.

The show opened up with A Bid Farewell and The Hell in Me, off their new album, and Jesse sounded GREAT.  In fact, for the first six or seven songs, I was REALLY excited about the potential of me liking Jesseswitch Engage better than the previous group.

But….then we got to some of the mid-2000 hits, the ones where Howard started to blow people’s minds, and……Jesse just didn’t have the pipes to keep up.  No disrespect, and this is just my opinion, but he really struggled with the epic choruses in songs like Arms of Sorrow and This is Absolution, and the crowd had to sing the the entire clean vocals part to My Last Serenade.  He didn’t sound bad, and he wasn’t off key or anything…he just didn’t have the power behind some of the songs that really set them apart as legendary songs in my head.

Let me be perfectly clear here – this Killswitch show was amazing, and Jesse sounded really really good as a vocalist.  If I didn’t have Howard to compare him to, I would have said he sounded great with no caveat.  But, since I’m forced to compare to Howard, and Howard’s epic vocals are what made me fall in love with Killswitch in the first place, I’m forced to say that Jesse has different strengths than Howard, and one of them is not powerful soaring choruses.  They are just different singers.

To prove even more that it’s just a matter of opinion – a buddy of mine who went to this show (who knows 10 times more about music than I do, and was listening to Killswitch when I thought Nelly was cool) said that he thought Jesse absolutely nailed this show and he didn’t see any drop in vocal performance between the two singers.  Bottom line is – I need to just stop comparing them.  A part of me will always miss Howard as the singer.  But, Jesse takes the band in an exciting new direction, and Adam D is still writing the songs (he’s brilliant), and they proved that they can still put on one hell of a show.

The picture above shows why I love this band.  Because they love being a band.  They love performing, they love their fans, and they love pushing themselves to continue to get better.

So…to answer the ultimate and final question Jesse vs. Howard, I’ll simply say this.

Yes please.  With a side of Adam D.  In a tutu.  And a superman cape.

Cheers, mate.  🙂

Proof that I ACTUALLY caught a KSE pick.
It was subsequently stolen out of the back of my car, along with my laptop.  I check craigslist
and ebay regularly for this pick.  I sure hope he lists it.  I’ll burn his house down.

This distance, this dissolution.  I cling to memories while falling.  Sleep brings release..and the hope of a new day.  Waking the misery of being without you.  

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