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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Back in 2008, legendary metalcore pioneers Overcast — who went on to be in a couple ofsmaller bands you may have heard of, like Shadows Fall and Killswitch Engage — got back together to re-record some old tunes for a collection called Reborn to Kill Again. When that album was released, I interviewed vocalist Brian Fair (also of the aforementioned Shadows Fall), and I asked him if Overcast might ever write some new music together. His answer?

“We’ve actually talked about it because Pete [Cortese, guitarist] and Mike [D'Antonio, bassist] definitely have ideas for songs. We just have to make sure that they’re Overcast songs, you know? And not just a Pete song. Like I said, it has to be tuned to E and there has to be a mosh part that goes nowhere and there has to be random time changes for no reason. All those things have to be there in order to make it an Overcast song. We’re definitely not opposed to [writing and recording new material]. It may or may not happen, it depends on if the songs are quality.”

Well, I guess somewhere along the way these dudes either decided that these songs are not “Overcast songs,” or otherwise decided that it just wasn’t Overcast without guitarist Scott McCooe and drummer Jay Fitzgerald, or, uh, something else — because the band’s three most famous alumni (In case you’re dumb: D’Antonio went on to join KsE, Cortese went on to join Seemless) are now reuniting to form a new band called Death Ray Vision.

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…the fuck?

So the Times of Grace tour is now underway, and I don’t think I was alone in wondering if the band would playing any vintage Killswitch Engage material out on the road. I mean, it would make sense — 3/5ths of the KsE Alive or Just Breathing line-up is Times of Grace, and, clearly, this is the big selling point for the group. I mean, you don’t just start out headlining on your first tour unless you’re a supergroup or, in this case, an unofficial reunion.

But now reader Tyler Lesniewski has e-mailed us a link to the setlist from the band’s first live performance, and guess what? There’s not a single KsE song on it.

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So Times of Grace, which is basically a reunion of Killswitch Engage’s Alive or Just Breathing-era line-up (seriously, they’re only missing two members), made their live debut last night when they kicked off their tour in Baltimore, and, well, wouldn’t ya know it?, someone filmed it on a cell phone. So here’s the footage. The quality is obviously not perfect, but it does look like the show was fun.

I’d be curious to know if they played any old KsE songs, but haven’t been able to find that info anywhere on the net yet… if you were there or know someone who was, please report!

More footage and remaining tour dates after the jump…

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I am in a seriously cranky fucking mood this morning, but I’m sure a new Ozzy video should cheer me right the fuck up. ‘Cause that shit always hit the spot, right?

Oh, wait. I must have been thinking of someone else, ’cause this video chugs monkey cum and asks for more. Actually, I guess it’s totally fitting for the song its attempting to sell: generic, boring, and sure to appeal only to the medically brain dead.

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Even before we were an “industry type” (I think we can safely call ourselves that now), I loved the fact that Roadrunner Records posts their staffers and some of the artists “best of” lists every year; these people work at/with one of the biggest metal labels out there, so it’s pretty interesting to see what they were grooving on from year to year.

The 2008 lists are on Roadrunner’s website now. Here are some highlights:

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