KILLSWITCH ENGAGE released their last album, “Atonement”, back in 2019, and it appears the follow-up could be arriving sometime soon
The band’s singer Jesse Leach recently took to his Instagram to provide fans an update on the status of a new KILLSWITCH ENGAGE album.
Jesse wrote: “When I make a record I get so lost in it, it can drag me down and truly hold me prisoner.”
He continued: “I’ve got the songs to show for it and I’m proud of my work so far! New [Killswitch Engage] album is almost demoed out and ready to be reworked and considered. Then on to re writing and deciding what the ideas and concepts are before we actually begin to attempt to record. Slow going for sure but I am really happy so far with what’s come out of us. Grateful for a break and grateful to get back to it in a few days. I am fortunate, blessed and indeed lucky to be able to do what I do!”
Last June, Jesse spoke to Australia’s Heavy and said that the band would try to get the new KILLSWITH ENGAGE record “wrapped up and done quickly, because we want it to be a record that’s not gonna take a lot of time to create. We want that raw, fresh feeling, so a lot of these demos I’m trying to [get] through quickly just to get the energy and then we’ll sort of dissect them as new get into the studio,” he explained. “So I think there’s a real spirit within us to put out new material and then tour on that new record come next year, hopefully. So that’s kind of what we’re all thinking.”
Discussing the project’s timeline, Jesse offered: “We’ve got a couple of sessions [scheduled]. We haven’t really put deadlines or anything. But I’m personally setting goals for me to create quick, very emotional, raw stuff for the demos and then probably taking a little more time, once we get to the studio, to polish that up and make it sound really good. Some of these demos I’m getting ready to send to the guys, if you would listen to them, most people would probably laugh ’cause they’re just me going nuts, just trying to get the idea out quick and then we’ll worry about re-recording it and polishing it and sort of making it sound KILLSWITCH-y.
“I’ve always been really hard on myself — a perfectionist, if you will — and I think it’s hindered me in the demo-making process,” he explained. “So my approach to this record is I wake up in the morning and I write lyrics out of the sleep. I listen to the music. It’s moving very quickly for me, and it just feels fresh; it feels new. And then us getting into a room and jamming on that shit together, which we haven’t done in years, that’s the vibe we’re going for. We kind of wanna bring that live feeling, that live sound to this next record… I want that energy to be there.
“Live music shouldn’t be perfect,” Leach added. “I don’t like the studio fixes, I don’t like the tuning — I hate all that shit. So the less that can happen, I’m into it. I’d rather keep it raw. It’s rock and roll, man — it shouldn’t be perfect. I think metal, over the years, has become very compressed and very manufactured. To me, I’m all about pushing away from that. So I think this next record will be a push-and-pull, ’cause [KILLSWITCH ENGAGE guitarist and producer] Adam [Dutkiewicz] is very much a perfectionist with the way he likes things to sound. So it should be interesting. He’s on board of that too — sort of getting more of a live feel to what we’re doing. I think it comes across. When you come see a band live like us, it is a little different than a record. But it should be.”
“Atonement” was released in August 2019 via Metal Blade Records in the U.S. and Sony Music Entertainment throughout the rest of the world.