Following the recent cancellation of Hevy Fest, Killswitch Engage stepped up and decided they’d bring their influential metalcore attack to the UK anyway. The band announced an intimate show at the Garage in London for August 4, as well as a date at Nottingham's Rescue Rooms, with their fans set to revel in the opportunity to welcome the band’s original vocalist, Jesse Leach, back to these shores once again.
Having left the band after their seminal 2002 album ‘Alive or Just Breathing’, Leach was replaced by the charismatic and uber-talented Howard Jones. After a short period of adjustment Jones' vocals became integral to Killswitch's tighter sound, but come 2012 - almost 10 years since the transition - he decided to leave and pursue a different direction.
Leach auditioned to get back in the band, and it simply felt right to replace old with old. A good indication of that is their new studio album 'Disarm The Descent', released earlier this year, which exhibits all of the hallmarks of their best work. They're not the first band to successfully transition between vocalists over the years, far from it.
Black Sabbath's vocal changeovers were at turns heartbreaking and exciting for their legion of fans. When Ozzy Osbourne quit to pursue a solo project in the late ‘70s, noting that the last few Sabbath albums "had been very depressing for him", the band called up a number of vocalists to fill his shoes - including Dave Walker, Ian Gillian and, most famously, the late, great Ronnie James Dio. Osbourne’s return in 1997 was a watershed moment for fans though, with their sporadic tours finally yielding fruit 16 years later as ‘13’ was released - their first record together since ‘Never Say Die!’ in 1978.
Sabbath were present at the very inception of heavy metal, and similarly, a look at hardcore punk's roots always finds Black Flag at the head of the discussion. Authentic in their DIY approach, the band's heyday came with Henry Rollins on vocals, the most notorious of their singers. Rollins brought a new attitude to the table and his dangerous, satirical lyrics sparked with the increasingly complex guitars of Greg Ginn.
Prior to Rollins, the band recorded major works with Keith Morris and Ron Reyes behind the mic, while Dez Cadena also flirted with the role of frontman before playing rhythm guitar. Two incarnations of the band are currently on the scene - Black Flag, with Ginn and Reyes at the forefront, and Flag, with Morris alongside Chuck Dukowski, Bill Stevenson and Stephen Egerton of the Decendents. Rollins, of course, remains absent and a noted public speaker and social commentator.
While Black Flag found fuel for their fire in constant reshuffles and conflicting personalities, AC/DC relied on the backbone of Angus and Malcolm Young to nurture their identity. Two constant members in 40 years as a band is quite an achievement. After a number of initial line-up shuffles, Bon Scott kicked off the first real vocal era of the band in 1974. From their debut, ‘High Voltage’, reportedly recorded in a mere 10 days, through ‘Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap’ to his final work on ‘Highway to Hell’, Scott helped make AC/DC an international giant until his untimely death in 1980.
Despite starting work on what would become ‘Back In Black’, he never lived to see it completed. His replacement, Brian Johnson, not only helped the band continue to create an incredible musical legacy, but kicked off his own time as vocalist with one of their greatest records. Marking over 30 years with the band at present, Johnson’s arrival was a transition that came about through terrible circumstances but one that proved that lightning can indeed strike twice.
The world of metal has its share of iconic frontmen, and also its share of bands with revolving doors. As with many others, Iron Maiden had a few early transitions in their rise to fame, but it was in 1981, when Bruce Dickinson auditioned for the band, that they really started to head places. Much like Johnson's AC/DC debut, Dickinson made his bow with Maiden on the epic ‘Number of the Beast’, a sure-fire sign of his success to come, and exited in 1993.
Either side of Dickinson, Maiden set up with Paul Day, Dennis Wilcock, Paul Di’Anno and Blaze Bayley out front, with mixed success. Sometimes a man comes to define a sound, and fans welcomed Dickinson back to the fold in 1999 following a flirtation with solo work.
Killswitch Engage aren’t alone, then. The band’s forthcoming shows will be special for their fans as they head back to their roots on the club circuit, and there’ll be more than one welcome return as Leach treads the boards. Sometimes a change of vocalist is for the best, sometimes it doesn't work out and other times it can create a real moment in time. Fortunately for Killswitch Engage, they’ve had the luxury of two outstanding vocalists in recent years. That’s very metal.
Killswitch Engage UK & Ireland Tour Dates are as follows
Sun August 4th 2013 - LONDON The Garage
Tue August 6th 2013 - NOTTINGHAM Nottingham Rescue Rooms
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