As we first discussed more than a month ago, there’s been a rumor floating around that original Killswitch Engage vocalist Jesse Leach was going to perform with the band for the NY shows of their current tour; and, lo and behold, last night Leach did indeed show up to do five Alive or Just Breathing-era tracks (“My Last Serenade,” “Numbered Days,” “Self Revolution,” “Vida Infra,” “Temple from the Within) with the group. And, as if that wasn’t enough, three more (“Prelude,” “Life to Lifeless” and “Fixation on the Darkness”) for the encore – this time while the band reverted to its original line-up, with Adam D. playing drums and everything. Oh boy oh boy. Will Hawkins Photography has photos from the show; meanwhile, The PRP posted the de rigeur cell cam footage, which you can check out below:

SMN has now wondered aloud, “Does this mean that the former frontman will be staking his claim for a return to the fold?” And while I continue to hear people bandy that rumor about, especially in light of the mysterious and potentially scandalous circumstances under which Howard Jones seems to sitting out this tour. I don’t think it’s time to get too excited about that possibility just yet (if the idea of Leach re-joining the band even excites you in the first place), but I guess we’ll see what happens.

KSE play another show here in NY tonight, which I’m supposed to attend. So I may or may not have a first-hand report for you on Monday. If anyone went to last night’s gig, please let me know what time KSE took the stage. I need to sit through a set by The Devil Wears Prada like I need my left nut to fall off.

-AR

When he isn’t busy feuding with Dave Mustaine, Scott Ian or any given member of Metallica, Kerry King sometimes likes to take shots at the younger generation of metal musicians. Because, well,  Most recently, while touring with Killswitch Engage as part of the 2009 edition of Mayhem Fest, King claimed that he’s “offended by the silliness” of KSE guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz, whom King also alleged “puts his foot in his mouth all the time and says stupid shit.”

Well, it only took two months, but a member of KSE has finally responded.

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Oh boy. Here we go again.

Kerry King loves to talk shit. He loves to talk shit so much you’d think he writes for MetalSucks (Kerry, if you’re reading this, please come write for MetalSucks.). The man just cannot be stopped. Dave Mustaine, Machine Head, Metallica – all have been victims of his razor-sharp tongue.

His latest casualty: Killswitch Engage, who are out on the road with Slayer right now as part of Mayhem.

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Killswitch Engage’s newest self-titled album sounds familiar, but that’s not the band’s fault. Well, actually, yes it is, in that the bludgeoned-to-dog-food horse known as metalcore owes a debt to the gentlemen in Killswitch. But even as a dude with what some could argue a pretentious taste in metal (the new Sunn 0))) album is definitely a grower, but it’s worth the wait!), I’ve always had a soft spot for the band: despite the throngs of guys with product-hardened hair and shitty sleeves acting like they’re the only ones to discover the first few In Flames records, Killswitch always knew what they did and knew they were good at it. You know exactly what you’re getting with one of their records – nimble-fingered Swede-tastic guitars occasionally cribbing from the Big Book of Metalcore Breakdowns, vocalist Howard Jones’ good cop/bad cop histrionics, a power ballad practically tailor made for Guitar Hero – but it’s always nice to hear it. It instantly brings one back to the halcyon days of the early ‘00s, when metalcore wasn’t so immediately associated with what was wrong with metal and deathcore wasn’t quickly becoming its fraternal twin.

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When Axl posted our Blood Has Been Shed exclusive news bit yesterday, he hinted at a full interview with Killswitch Engage’s Howard Jones and Mike D’Antonio; and here she is. Chatting with Howard and Mike was more like shooting the shit with some old friends than it was a formal interview, even though we’d never met the dudes before. Howard and Mike told as all about the new album, working with producer Brendan O’Brien, the decision to self-title the new record, their work in Blood Has Been Shed and Overcast respectively, the band’s writing process, what it’s like to play arenas, and more.

Howard was sporting a sick beard so naturally we had to comment on it, and that’s where things started:
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I’ve been trying to organize my thoughts on the latest Unearth album, The March, for a couple of weeks now, and I’m finally waving the white flag of surrender. I have a lot to say about this album, some of it good, some of it bad, and I’m just gonna let it all hang out now in a little bit of a brain fart. So bear with me here…

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Holy shit, it’s fucking October already? What the fuck? Weren’t we just talking about all the summer festivals, like, yesterday? Sheesh.

ANYWAY, I mention it because Unearth’s new album, The March, drops October 14 on Metal Blade, which just a couple of weeks away. So it’s time for the band’s promotional machine to kick into overdrive, and they’ve started by posting another new song, “We Are Not Anonymous,” on the band’s MySpace page. Like “My Will Be Done,” the other new song the band has already unveiled (and which is also streaming on MySpace, in case ya missed it the first time), it’s a shreddy, catchy, breakdownalicious slice of metalcore. In other words, it’s classic Unearth.

I don’t know if this album is gonna reinvent the wheel – in fact, it clearly won’t – but I am fairly certain it’ll rock your panties off. And it reunites the band with producer Adam D., so, y’know, that’s fun.

-AR

P.S. Re: the above photo… what an odd tramp stamp to get. Can you imagine if you were hittin’ that and you kept looking down to read Unearth lyrics? And wouldn’t be you tempted to scream out “No, I’ve known a girl’s ass before, but that was a bold claim?”

Blabbermouth posted this fan-filmed (read: crappy quality) footage of Unearth performing a new song, “My Will be Done,” at Wacken a couple of weeks back. From what I can hear, it sounds more or less like, well, Unearth. Which isn’t a bad thing.

Unearth’s new album, The March, comes out October 14 on Metal Blade. It reunites the band the with longtime producer Adam D. after they recorded their last album, In the Eyes of Fire, with Terry Date. Since I prefer the band’s Adam D.-assisted work to Fire, I am choosing to be optimistic about this one.

-AR

I know some people that are absolutely fuckin’ fanatical about All That Remains, the Masshole group fronted by former Shadows Fall front dude/devout Christian/self-professed porn addict Phil Labonte (who actually seems to have found a fairly stable line-up for the band after years of constant member changes). I’ve always had a lot of respect for the band, but never quite got to a point where I was as into them as some of their American New Wave peers; maybe that’s because, as much as I’ve enjoyed their albums (particularly 2004′s This Darkened Heart), I’ve seen them live a few times and they never exactly knocked my socks off. Still, I’ll take them over As I Lay Dying any day of the week.

ANYWAY, ATR have a new album, Overcome, coming out on Prosthetic on September 16, and now two new songs from said album, entitled “Before the Damned” and “Relinquish,” have made their way onto the band’s MySpace page.

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Metal Blade has signed infamous Massholes, Overcast. Overcast are of some interest because their singer, Brian Fair, went on to front a little band you may have heard of called Shadows Fall, while their bassist, Mike D’Antonio, eventually joined some group called Killswitch Engage (the band’s other members, presumably, went on to get day jobs). That makes Overcast one of those bands that is kind of a retroactive supergroup, like the line-up of Megadeth that had Kerry King for all of ten seconds, or one of those glam bands like London or Hollywood Rose, whose various members went on to form Motley Crue, GN’R, and L.A. Guns.

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