Killswitch Engage

Killswitch Engage's first record for new label Roadrunner is a nice surprise. Imagine Swedish-style death metal guitar riffing intertwined with today's metal-core style vocals and rhythm and you get the picture. The riffs on this CD are monstrous. I hear Dark Tranquility in the middle section on the first song and Whoracle-era In Flames on the second song. This whole CD just reeks of classy Swedish melodic death metal, but what sets it apart are the vocals. Jesse Leach, who has apparently now left the band, possesses one ferocious set of lungs. His growling vocals are great, but the key ingredient is his clean singing voice; his heartfelt and emotional singing style in most choruses is breathtaking. The combination of extreme and clean vocals is so well done that you will be humming these songs in your head. Do yourselves a favour and check this one out.