Review Summary: Killswitch Engage brings along some good music with there Bonus Tracks to As Daylight Dies, and prove again they aren't to bad with Howard Jones as vocals.
Howard Jones – lead vocals
Adam Dutkiewicz –lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Joel Stroetzel – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Justin Foley – drums
Mike D'Antonio – bass
Band History:
Killswitch Engage (2000, Self-titled)
Alive or Just Breathing (2002)
*Jesse Leech Leaves and Howard Jones Joins
The End of Heartache (2004)
As Daylight Dies (2006)
In 2007,
Killswitch Engage releases
As Daylight Dies Bonus Tracks Edition. Attracting many more fans as what I say was very successful album at first, but now the bonus tracks just adds to what the best of what Killswitch abilities stand as of metalcore music. A lot of fans don't give Killswitch as much attention as they used too, when they claimed Jesse Leech was better as the lead vocals when they actually sounded like potential after they released Alive or Just Breathing. Personally I disagree with that even though myself used to agree with that until the band recovered amazing as they proved with The End of Heartache. But enough about the past of Killswitch Engage, now to say what is good about this album.
First off Adam Dutkiewicz and Joel Stroetzel are very talented guitarists and really delivers with unique guitar rifts and some what I think are memorable on this album. As soon as the album starts on
As Daylight Dies, the bass and guitar kick into it and actually start slow compared to later in the song, it actually shows some new things learned in the band. Then it comes to
This Is Absolution is the bass transitions into different sounds, this is a much faster paced song compared to the one before and the guitars mostly blaze throughout the song.
The Arms of Sorrow come in as the 3rd track and is one of my favorites on the album. It starts very solemn sounding into the guitar comes in about 17 seconds into the song and lyrics are very impressive as well as the vocals as Howard demonstrates. The drums also show a every good rhythm as Justin Foley joins the guitars in some highlight moments in the song. This brings into the song
Unbroken on the album, it comes out to be actually a pretty powerful song just like
Break The Silence heard later in the album, which alone shows some integrity throughout the album. In my opinion Break The Silence is one of my favorite Killswitch Engage songs of all time. After Unbroken,
My Curse plays into a very heavy song, and Howard gives a very good performance as his voice can be heard over the guitars as they break into some continuous rifts that make the song come together greatly. Next in
For You the drums are very face paced and really noticeable at times just like the following song
Still Beats Your Name. But of the two, Still Beats Your Name comes out to be the slower song. Next up,
Eye of the Storm, as it has a well played beginning that continued into the song shows how the rest of the turns out. beginning but later kicks up at about 44 seconds into the song as becomes a little faster. Near the end of the album, the song
Desperate Times shows to be the most slowest song. But does not disappoint with some very impressive guitar rifts that add to the build ups throughout the song and add to the emotion of the song after much slower parts. The Last track on the original album,
Reject Yourself delivers a great beginning as the guitars show different sounds after one another and become very aggressive later in the song.
-Bonus Tracks-
In addition to original album are 4 bonus songs, of the 4 are 2 new songs Killswitch made only for this album called Be One and Let The Bridges Burn.
As track 12,
Be One shows some completely new abilities of Killswitch Engage never really shown before. For example, Howards vocals seem much more high pitch at times making it seem that he has gotten in between both editions of this album. Changed alone with the vocals, is the drums which seem much more aggressive making the rhythm feel lethal as adding to the power of song. But this doesn't mean the guitarists haven't learned any new tricks as they are somewhat demonstrated in the song. The next track is the second of the new songs,
Let The Bridges Burn just as in Be One show some new things learned. The song starts very slow but throughout seems to gain speed in pace making this just as a heavy song compared to previous track. The vocals also yet again are loud and skillful over the instruments throughout the song.
The 14th track,
This Fire Burns, was first featured on WWE Wreckless Intent Soundtrack. Even though not as new as tracks 12 and 13, it stills shows some very good effort from Killswitch to show what there good at. The lyrics are pretty well placed and helps in the emotion the song produces. the guitars are never left down easily in the song and are always proving hardcore and continuous. The last song shown and featured on the bonus tracks is
Holy Diver which was a cover off Dio remade by Killswitch. This song shows some rifts similar to the original song by Dio and sounds heard before as its played in a way Killswitch doesn't show very much. But it still put a good bonus to this edition.
Overall I give this album a 4/5.
Positives To Album:
-Shows some very much uniqueness of Killswitch Engage as far as guitars, drums, and vocals.
-Bonus edition shows some new things learned by the band and shown. Along with 2 new songs.
-Album definitely delivers, very much worth picking this one up.
-Creative as far as some songs.
Negatives To Album:
-If any its was that some bonus tracks were featured and seen a year before put on the album as a bonus.
-A few guitar rifts out of place showing some repetitiveness.
Recommended Songs:
The Arms of Sorrow
Break The Silence
Be One
Let The Bridges Burn
This Fires Burns
