Dear Killswitch Engage,

I was very happy to hear that Jesse Leach has re-joined the band. I don’t mean to be disrespectful to Howard Jones. I think HJ is a great vocalist and a great performer, and I love The End of Heartache. But I don’t think it’s any secret that you fellas needed some kind of creative kick in the pants. And Leach did an amazing job when he played with you back in 2010, and Alive or Just Breathing is a bonda fide modern classic. If you weren’t going to be able to move forward with Howard Jones, then, really, getting Leach back was the only move that made any real sense. So, mazel tov! I am officially excited to hear your new album and see you dudes live again.

Now, if I may be so bold, a humble request to keep in mind while moving forward: please don’t let your reunion album sound like Times of Grace.

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Have you checked out KillswitchEngage.com today? We’re not sure how long it’s been there, but as of the time this article is being published there’s a splash screen up with a photo of the band — including original lead singer Jesse Leach. While the band has yet to release a statement via their website, Facebook page, press release or any other medium, a photo is worth 1,000 words and we can’t think of any other possible way this could be construed.

After Howard Jones’ departure on January 4th, asking Leach back into the band seemed like only logical course of action; 3rd vocalists never work out, and duh, it just makes sense given all the history and Leach’s recent relationship with the other band members. Welcome back, Jesse!

Thanks: Corey B.

It’s hard to keep a secret in these Internet-crazy times. If I were Jesse Leach and I had a really big secret to keep — like whether or not I was about to re-join Killswitch Engage after Howard Jones’ departure — I’d probably just avoid giving interviews to the press altogether to make sure what I say couldn’t be mis-interpreted, or I couldn’t slip up and let fly a small nugget that gives the whole thing away. But Jesse Leach is apparently still doing interviews despite rampant speculation that he’ll rejoin the band, and he had some interesting things to say in a recent interview with Australia’s Loud Magazine:

My viewpoint is to respectfully step back from the situation and support them. Whatever decision they make will be the right one for them and I look forward to what it is.

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Yo! Have you guys signed up for our new e-mail list yet? If not, you can, and should, do so above. You’ll get occasional updates from the MS Mansion with breaking stories, special features, exclusive premieres, etc., delivered right to your inbox. Don’t worry, we won’t spam you — expect a newsletter-type of situation with updates once a week at most. And don’t forget to friend us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up-to-the-minute on all the latest suckage.

With that shameless plug out of the way, let’s look at some of the things we did this week, shall we?

• Maybe we should rename the site “Sports Suck?” God Forbid’s Doc Coyle taught us about the NBA and Lazarus A.D.’s Jeff Paulick taught us about the NFL.
• We spoke to Matt Halpern from Periphery and Bandhappy and Nick Cohon from Cormorant.
• We were saddened to report that legendary Black Sabbath guitarist has been diagnosed with lymphoma.
• Jason Richardson was saddened to learn that he has been fired from Born of Osiris.
• We considered ten possible candidates to replace Howard Jones in Killswitch Engage.
• We wagered that the new Metallica album is not going to sound like The Black Album despite what the band says.
• We passed judgement on the new Van Halen single and video.
• We got excited that Refused and At the Drive In are reuniting.
• We learned that Virgin Steele are from Long Island.
• We started to look at some Albums That Will Fuck Your Face Off in 2012: new releases from Adimiron, Hypno5e, Ides of Gemini, Pallbearer, Sai Nam, and Samothrace.

Next week we’ll have even more Albums That Will Fuck Your Face Off, interviews, premieres, and, of course, plenty of snark. ‘Til then, brothers and sisters…

-AR

Yesterday we ran a very silly post in which we hypothesized about possible new vocalists for Killswitch Engage, except that the majority of candidates we named are not realistic possibilites (more on that in a second). I know that there are people who were bummed that we didn’t consider more realistic potentialities, but there was a reason we didn’t do that — it seems to us that Jesse Leach is really the only man for this job. (And, yes, we know that Leach just told fans via Facebook that “If I have something to say, I WILL say it. For the moment I have no comments on KSE.” But what do you expect him to say?)

Leach isn’t just the obvious choice — he’s really the best choice. Because his voice is still in great shape; because he’s a great performer; and because in 2012, we’d like to think that bands have learned from the Gary Cherones, Blaze Bayleys, and Dan Nelsons of the world. Being the third singer for a really famous band is a thankless task, even if you’re really talented. Tommy Vext, for example, is a great vocalist — but if he really did join KsE, he would face a momentous uphill battle to be accepted by fans and come out from under the shadow of Leach and Jones. And history teaches us that he — or any other singer, for that matter — probably would not win that battle.

So. This message on Killswitch’s official website certainly caught me by surprise…

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With Howard Jones now available for a White Lion reunion, who will be the new vocalist for Killswitch Engage? The obvious answer, of course, would be for the band’s original frontman, Jesse Leach, to return to the fold — although there’s been no word on such a possibility yet, save for some cryptic comments from Leach himself. The second most obvious answer would be Phil Labonte, but (mercifully), he’s already said “I’m not gonna be singing for KsE.”

So if we take Labonte at his word and imagine, for the sake of discussion, that Leach is not returning to the band… who else might get the gig? After the jump, we weigh a few possible options.

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via Badass Digest

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First week back from the holidays, and already the vocalist for one of the most famous metal bands of its generation has split from the band. What drama does the rest of the year hold? Pontificate in the comments section while you enjoy these stories from earlier in the week:

• We debuted new music by Liberteer.
• The Safety Fire’s Dez Nagle gave us a tour of his live rig, while Lazarus A.D.’s Jeff Paulick kept us up-to-date on all things football.
• We spoke to Rick Jimenez from This is Hell and comic book author Matt Fraction.
• We checked out the latest releases from Face Reality, No Sir, and Step Aside, as well as The United States of Toil.
• We learned that in 2012, it’s cool to be tr00.
• We discovered the best worst new band of 2012 so far.
• We said good things about this band so other ppl will know them and they will get sucess andwe will all be all happy!
• We mourned the loss of The Human Abstract.
• We got a primer in how to start a djent band.
• We made a Stuff You Will Hate mixtape.

Next week brings more debuts, our special brand of 2012 release previews, and maybe, just maybe, if you’re real lucky, some snark, too. Weird for us, I know.

See ya Monday!

-AR

As soon as it was announced this week that Howard Jones was splitting with Killswitch Engage after nine years, everyone asked the same obvious-but-important question: Why? Was it because of the rumors  Jones impregnated porn star Allie Foster a few years back? Rehab? “Creative differences?”

Now Jones has finally spoken out via a posting on KsE’s Facebook page, and the answer, it turns out, is simply “musical fatigue.” Here’s the full statement:

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For the young ‘uns that don’t remember, Blood Has Been Shed is the way killer turn-of-the-century metalcore band that Howard Jones and Justin Foley were in before they signed Killswitch Enage. It’s true! I swear it! These dudes were really real people even before KsE ever came along.

Blood Has Been Shed are also a band that a lot of people — like me! — have been waiting for a reunion from since, like, forever. Or at least 2009, when BHBS guitarist Corey Unger said that “I have been working on the new album,” which led many of us to believe that he was probably, y’know, working on a new album.

So naturally, when Vince and I interviewed KsE bassist Mike D’Antonio  Mr. Jones later that same year, we asked the vocalist about it. I’ve re-printed this quote about a bajillion times now, but it’s never not-relevant to the discussion of a possible BHBS reunion, so here it is again:

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UPDATE, 1:22 PM: Now the band has confirmed that they are, indeed, breaking-up. Thanks to The PRP for catching the story. Original post follows…

I don’t know how we missed this, but shortly before MetalSucks went on hiatus last month, Lambgoat reported a rumor that Oceano were breaking up — which is great news if, say, you’re a petty little fuck like me, who wishes ill will on people whose greatest crime is making music that you don’t personally enjoy. And then yesterday those rumors picked up some steam when Oceano vocalist Adam Warren — who has apparently parted ways with his deathcore cohorts — made the following statement, which a) strongly implies that Ocean are indeed calling it quits, and b) makes reference to Howard Jones’ just-announced split with Killswitch Engage:

“I’m shocked, but well… If Killswitch can go on after 9 years and 3 albums without Mr. Jones on vox…. Why couldn’t a certain band with out me? (2 albums and a mere 3 years) Just sayin.”

So that sounds promising, right?

Alas, it ain’t so.

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According to a post on the band’s Facebook page, Howard Jones is no longer the singer for Killswitch Engage:

To our family, friends and fans: We have decided to continue on without Howard Jones as the singer of Killswitch Engage. We love Howard and are thankful for the nine years that we’ve had him in the band. Out of respect for everyone involved we will not be discussing the specific reasons behind this decision. Howard is a part of our family and always will be, and we wish him well. He has left big shoes to fill, so we certainly have our work cut out for us to find the next singer of Killswitch, something we plan on making priority #1 going forward. Most importantly, thanks to all of you for all the support throughout the years and for sticking by us for all this time. We really do appreciate it and we very much look forward to having a new record for all of you in the not too distant future that we can all be proud of. Sincerely, Adam, Joel, Mike & Justin.

It’s difficult not to speculate that the rumors involving Jones impregnating porn star Allie Foster had at least a small part, if not more, in the events leading up to this decision. The band never did respond to the rumors, but Jones sat out their early 2010 tour while All That Remains’ Phil LaBonte and his rack of AutoTune gadgets filled in. Original KsE singer Jesse Leach did a few gigs with them too which of course led to plenty of rumor-mongering that Jones was out of the band for good, but again, nothing was ever said in any official capacity. Whatever’s going on behind the scenes of KsE and with Jones personally, it certainly doesn’t sound pretty. It’s worth noting that Jones DID play a set of shows with the band in May of 2010 after his hiatus. It’s also worth noting that it’s entirely possible the Allie Foster allegations are either a) completely untrue, and/or, b) had nothing to do with Jones’ eventual split from the band.

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What the fuck? Look at this press release Axl just forwarded to me:

“It was in 1983 when Howard Jones first burst upon the contemporary music scene and brought his very English song-writing and pioneering synthesizers to an unsuspecting world. His first two albums Human’s Lib and Dream Into Action were massive worldwide hits.

“Human’s Lib reached #1 in 1984 in the UK and featured the hits ‘New Song,’ and ‘What Is Love?’  In 1985 Howard released his follow up: Dream Into Action, which quickly became a Top Ten Platinum album here in the US and featured the massive hits: ‘Things Can Only Get Better,’ ‘Life In One Day,’ ‘No One Is To Blame,’ and ‘Like To Get To Know You Well.’

“Now for the first time ever, Jones will perform these first two classic albums in their entirety in the US this fall. A true icon of the 80’s and godfather of modern electronic dance music, Jones will be giving the fans what they’ve longed for.”

Okay, so first of all, I did NOT know that Howard Jones was English. I always thought that dude was from Massachusetts!

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I remember reading an interview with Howard Jones around the time The End of Heartache came out in which he said something to the effect of, “You could play Slayer songs on acoustic guitars and they would still sound good.” His point being, of course, that a good song will always sound like a good song, period.

And the below video, of a couple of dudes doing an instrumental acoustic cover of Kvelertak’s “Blodtorst,” certainly bolsters Jones’ assertion. It would probably never even occur to me to want to hear an acoustic version of Kvelertak, because I think of them as a loud, obnoxious party band (I mean that as a compliment, by the way). But this works pretty well! And apparently, the band digs it, too.

-AR

[via Metal Insider]

Howard Jones missed the last KSE tour because…

HE WAS KIDNAPPED BY ALIENS WHILE ON A FISHING TRIP!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In all seriousness, though, I love this video, and here’s why:

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The KSE saga takes another turn! Actually, the information in the headline is all we can tell you right now. HoJo is doing four shows with the band in May. There’s been no official word on what the heck has been going on these past few months… but at least it looks as though Howard is still in the band.

Dates for the new shows are as follows:

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It was just yesterday that I couldn’t get Jesse Leach to comment on the Killswitch Engage singer situation. And now, after weeks and weeks of speculation, KSE have just released a statement, officially announcing Howard Jones’ departure from the band “due to personal reasons.” No further details are given.

That’s a bummer, but given all the recent rumors of Jones’ permanent departure, it’s not exactly shocking news. What is shocking is that the band has chosen not to bring original front man Jesse Leach back into the fold, or even Phil LaBonte, who covered for Jones on KSE’s most recent tour. So guess who got the gig instead?

FORMER DIVINE HERESY/SNOT VOCALIST TOMMY VEXT.

Yes… we’re as surprised as you are.

Read the complete statement from Tommy and KSE after the jump…

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UPDATE: Reader Ben Alden tells me that Jesse joined the band once again at Northern Lights in Clifton Park, NY. If anyone catches him at any future shows, please let us know…

I saw this video on The PRP this morning, and it’s supposed to be from Leach’s first night performing with the band. If that’s true, then not only did everyone in the band, including Leach, wear the same exact clothes two nights in a row, but Adam D. used the same exact stage banter two nights in a row. Hmm…

First of all, thanks to everyone who let me know that Killswitch Engage were going on at 10 pm. I successfully managed to avoid The Devil Wears Prada. (Who, it’s worth mentioning, had a sign at their merch booth that read “Hoody.” They can’t even be bothered to correctly spell the name of that most basic of metal merch. Sheesh.) Yes, it meant also missing Dark Tranquillity, but that’s the fucked-up world in which we live.

ANYWAY, here are the two lessons to be gleaned from the evening’s KSE set:

1. If the speculation that Howard Jones may never return to the band is true, the group absolutely cannot hire Phil LaBonte as their new front man.
2. If the speculation that Howard Jones may never return to the band is true, the group absolutely must bring Jesse Leach back into the fold.

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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

A couple of weeks ago I got an e-mail from an anonymous reader claiming that the reason Howard Jones is missing the current Killswitch Engage tour is because he knocked up a porn star. Given that a) I had no idea who this e-mailer was, b) he or she offered no evidence whatsoever, and c) Jones is a married man, we didn’t run the story; it just seemed so ludicrous.

Well, we still have no idea if it’s true or not, but on Saturday night (I guess technically Sunday morning, depending on the time zone in which you live), a porn star I’ve never heard of (and I’ve heard of quite a few), Allie Foster, started tweeting that she was, in fact, Jones’ baby momma. Check out this screenshot, courtesy our friends at Metal Injection:

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Jesse Leach and Howard Jones doing KSE’s “My Last Serenade” as part of the Roadrunner United event in December 2005

So last night Killswitch Engage sent out a press release announcing they’re going to finish their current tour with All That Remains’ Phil LaBonte handling vocal duties for Howard Jones, who had to break out early, apparently due to illness.

But that’s not really interesting news. What I actually found most intriguing about the press release was that it made no mention of the rumors that original KSE front dude Jesse Leach would be returning to the fold for the two NYC stops on the tour. It’s worth noting that Leach himself helped fan the flames of those rumors with an interaction on Facebook with MS Suckalo Chris Steeves. And just as intriguing as the absence of any mention of Leach in the press release is that he has removed the exchange with Steeves from his Facebook page (although you can still see it here).

So what does this mean? There are a few possibilities:

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