Killswitch Engage Releases “Atonement”

Killswitch Engage: AtonementKillswitch Engage has released Atonement, which is being hailed as a return to form by the metalcore outfit. Fiery riffs and melodic vocals dominate the record and call back to their heyday of Alive or Just Breathing and End of Heartache.

The writing process started over two years ago, but the album was put on hold when vocalist Jesse Leach developed scar tissue on a polyp in his throat. He was forced to take speech and vocal therapy for three months, which in the end helped to shape the album. Killswitch took the opportunity to reunite with former vocalist Howard Jones for a track called “The Signal Fire.” Bassist Mike D’Antonio talked with TheMetalSucks Podcast about working with Jones again.

“I recorded all the bass tracks on the road and then there was a couple that I needed to either make corrections to or maybe I had missed a couple,” he explains. “So we were [finishing] in my house, and that was one of the songs that I went to record that day and I realize, ‘Oh crap, I guess this is going to be a single, huh?’ I hadn’t heard it with Howard on vocals before that and I was very surprised and stoked at how good it came out. That was pretty much Jesse and Adam’s call. We love Howard, he’s a great dude. Sometimes things don’t work out but he’s doing really well and I hope nothing but the best for him. It was really cool, he had the time to do it and help us out. Now we’re going to have to find a tour I guess.”

Take a listen to the band’s first single from the album, “Unleashed,” featuring Leach on vocals:

Atonement is available now on CD, vinyl and as a digital download (iTunes and Amazon MP3).

Atonement Track List:

  1. Unleashed
  2. The Signal Fire
  3. Us Against the World
  4. The Crownless King
  5. I Am Broken Too
  6. As Sure as the Sun Will Rise
  7. Know Your Enemy
  8. Take Control
  9. Ravenous
  10. I Can’t Be The Only One
  11. Bite the Hand That Feeds

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