Album: Incarnate
Year: 2016
Rating: 79/100
After a few years of instability and the return to the fold of vocalist Jesse Leach (in turn replacing Howard Jones at their forefront), Killswitch Engage return to the radar with "Incarnate", the follow up to "Disarm the Descent". But the one crucial question is, how does it hold up?
Not too badly, all things considered. Jesse Leach's return for "Disarm the Descent" was a welcome one for the band, and that record turned out as an underrated gem on the whole for Killswitch Engage. On "Incarnate", however, Leach and drummer Justin Foley treat every track as if their very lives depended on it; Leach singing, growling and screaming with the fire and passion that rocketed the quintet to recognition on "Alive Or Just Breathing" and Foley with some of the most precise drumming I've ever heard him do. Opening number "Alone I Stand" is almost "My Last Serenade"-esque in its power and energy, and lead off singles "Hate By Design" and "Cut Me Loose" have the same raw, primitive essence that forms the backbone of Killswitch Engage's sound. Even more pedestrian numbers like "Until The Day" and "It Falls on Me" get a much needed lift from the respective performances of Leach and Foley.
While Jesse Leach is on record as saying that he hit something of a creative wall in the creative processes behind "Incarnate" at some points, Killswitch Engage fans will be pleased to know that the end result doesn't bear that out at all. It's not a perfect album, but it's definitely got enough to keep the diehard fans happy, which is the main thing. Definitely worth getting hold of a copy, even if it's not quite as instant as "Alive Or Just Breathing" or "Disarm the Descent".
Track List
- Alone I Stand
- Hate By Design
- Cut Me Loose
- Strength of the Mind
- Just Let Go
- Embrace the Journey...Upraised
- Quiet Distress
- Until The Day
- It Falls on Me
- The Great Deceit
- We Carry On
- Ascension
- Reignite
- Triumph Through Tragedy
- Loyalty
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