This is the hardest review I’ve ever had to do. The reason being I have to look at my favourite band from and objective standpoint.
That shit is hard…..
But I’m going to try….
So Last week Killswitch Engage released their latest album: “Incarnate” and so far its my ALBUM OF THE MOTHERFUCKING YEAR
.
But I can provide well reasoned and justified reasons that are in no way fanboying.
This album without being overt about it had alot of experimentation on it. Which is great because Killswitch are guilty of sounding to much like Killswitch at times and not really diverifying their sound. Songs Like “It Falls On Me” which had a realy slow sludgey feel but still felt like a Killswitch song, and “Just Let Go” which had a great dynamic shift between frantic verses to slower very open almost clean guitars on the chorus and the opening track “Alone I Stand” played with switchiung up the grooves and time signatures during the song aswell.
The production is amazing, it feels really heavy and has a ver live feel and a real warmth to it . The mix on the album is very even, everything fills and sits in the in the correct place in the sonic landscape. The production also has a very warm feel to it, which in an era of sterile and over produced albums is refreshing.
Moving onto instrumentation: The drums dont have that nasty sounding clicky quality alot of metal records have . The bass is very present and clear, when songs open up and become less dense it really shines through and holds down a solid groove. Guitars are really tight, as a guitar player this album is ear candy, with an onslaught of really awesome riffs and really good guitar tones. The vocals on the album are awesome aswell, Jesse Leech on every song puts down consistantly strong and emotive performances, and theres not a chorus on this album that isn’t worth a singing along to.
Recomended tracks: Hate by Design, Quiet Distress, It Falls On Me, Triumph Through Tradgedy(Deluxe Editon only), Cut Me Loose
Overall this is a fantastic album which i will recomend to each and everyone in the universe ever.
8.5/10
OverDriver 