Alive or Just Breathing

Alive or Just Breathing is a classic, true, and important metalcore record in the genre. It elevated the genre in terms of recognition, honor (in some sense), music, and developed a new way for modern metal music. Hell, Adam D. made quite the impression by just recording this record; beyond that more metalcore bands wanted to work with him. But the one thing that stands out the most is how it beats most records at the time. Even all the local bands that had any albums coming out during 2002, they just weren't as good as this beautiful bastard. Not only I was impressed with what I've listened, despite hating/disliking/not wanting to listen to metalcore back then, this one was the exception and there was no looking back. This record stood the test of time and should be regarded as one of the best.

In my point of view, it seems like most people are familiar with The End of Heartache even more so. Despite having Howard Jones on the band and earned the band two gold certificates for selling over 500,000 records for each of his first two records with the band, it was still not as good and as fresh as Alive or Just Breathing. Then again, this isn't a contest of who sold more, it's the contest of the quality in question, which here lies the question of whether Jesse ever got the respect he deserves for TRULY pushing the band to its success, let alone this album getting the recognition it deserves. It's also important to note how Adam in his creation practically spawned "melodic metalcore". So you don't need any of that shit since The End of Heartache is an overrated record. The real winner is right here. Now hear me out: I'm not striking Howard or the band, let alone entering the argument of who's the better singer, but even Howard's sophomore album with the band, As Daylight Dies was better - and it's also either the band's best record or it's Howard's best; tied with this record; being Jesse's best.

Diving deep into how this record made an impact: first off, the tuning. The drop C tuning is engaging, heavy, and well-executed (then again, it's my favorite tuning, but I'll try to stay objective and not biased). Despite having three re-recorded songs from the band's debut which are in D standard, the riffage; palm-muting, pitch harmonics, melodies - anything that was thrown into the guitar neck from Adam & Joel's fingers were excellent and merciless. Mike's bass tones are just too damn good. Not only it brings you back to his Overcast bass grooves, but it shows the sound from the bass is just as important as any other instrument required in metalcore. It adds a lot of important layers to the music. Despite having Tom Gomes joining the band after this album's release, Adam delivered quite the performance behind the drumkit. It's got the hardcore essence required and it's not bland or typical. It's rather interesting to tune into. As for the vocals: Jesse's more prominent unclean AND clean vocals gave this album a good taste in the mouth. He showed he matured further (despite being his worst performance, if it's a surprise to anyone which I'll explain later why) and added more excitement. Even Adam's backing vocals are amazing and he's got a unique voice when it comes to his cleans. Additionally, Adam's sister, Becka, had backing vocals on My Last Serenade, which weren't audible. Phil Labonte also had his backing vocals position on Self Revolution and To the Sons of Man, which he, too, wasn't audible - unless at this point I'm that deaf. The lyrical themes and Jesse's writing felt like you could relate to a lot. When you read through the lyrics, Jesse doesn't express your typical "struggles, personality, emotional, depressing, and political views". I believe even in his darkest days he tried to seek positivity and never let go.

When it comes to the album's tracklist, you get some awesome, short, groovy, and engaging songs that fit the metalcore picture, while the longer, influential and elaborated songs add in a variety. Said variety is based on song structure, instrumentation, lyrics, and vocals. There aren't much longer and variable songs on the record, but they're still very metal and very powerful, unlike the shorter ones.

If we look into the first example I mentioned: you get songs like Numbered Days, Self Revolution, Fixation on the Darkness, Life to Lifeless, To the Sons of Man, the three re-recorded tracks: Temple from the Within, Vide Infra, and In the Unblind (which is a bonus track), and When the Balance Is Broken (also a bonus track) - which are short to some extent, yet fulfilling in their engaging, blazing, and shredding guitar riffs, not to mention the beautiful melodies and the exchanges between Adam & Joel. The drop C tuning is executed to the point beyond recognition. You've got absolutely everything there is, in terms of the genre's music. Mike's extended and audible bass grooves deliver more power to the music, which like I said not only makes it an important part in the genre; to be heard, but it pumps you and makes the music even better. The drums, for the most part, may sound similar or already established with each passing song, but at the same time, they're not. They're not tiring or repetitive. Adam delivered some great work with the cymbals, yet maintaining the hardcore essence. And the vocals by Jesse showcasing the wrath inside, yet fantastically adding more layers to these songs with his clean vocals, and when you get such awesome backing vocals; exemplified in the song Self Revolution during the chorus - that's where Adam just nails it.

Speaking of the more elaborated, atmospheric, and longer tracks: My Last Serenade, Just Barely Breathing (which I assume is the title track just alternatively titled), The Element of One, and Rise Inside are the more atmospheric and melodic, as the music slows down to prepare for some climatic signatures and the vocals being cleaner. Of course, this isn't always the case, as the album is practically built upon the same formula: catchy and groovy guitars with melodies, heavy bass, hard-hitting drums, and screams. Their length alone provides more depth and elaboration. I don't think I need to explain My Last Serenade. Sure, it's more of their radio-ish song, but it's done its part when it comes to the melody and not being too friendly for fame. When you have the title track that its verses are probably heavier than four out of the first tracks, the chorus still gives the genre sort of uniqueness due to the atmosphere. The Element of One has some sick grooves from the guitars, not to mention the opening death growl in the verses and unclean vocals in the pre-chorus, but this song, too, is pretty melodic compared to the first half of the album. And then you have Rise Inside, which I believe to be a very underrated song by the band. Not only its length justified the atmosphere and music, but it showcased a lot of talent from the band; from the opening heavy bass with the guitars' distortion effects, to the blazing drums and guitars, to Jesse's screams and clean vocals, and Adam's backup vocals also helped in showing how melodic this song turned out. Let's not forget the outro screaming of the title by Jesse.

Let's see what exactly happened that didn't render this album perfect: first of all, this album is solid - VERY. But unfortunately, it's nowhere near perfect. To the Sons of Man is Killswitch Engage's shortest song ever, and while it did have around the outro (or maybe it was the bridge) some pretty nice clean vocals by Adam, it almost felt like a filler. Like I said on the band's debut, Vide Infra is a song I never liked and never cared for. The re-recorded version isn't an improvement. The interlude, Without a Name contains acoustic guitars and additionally electric ones were added, to prepare for the band's greatest song intro (which is Rise Inside). This one also felt like an unnecessary filler. When the Balance Is Broken isn't necessarily a bad song, but it does get repetitive and would've been a shame if it was in the original tracklist. The instrumental track, Untitled and Unloved is all-acoustic, but it's repetitive as well.

As for the demos and Howard's version of Fixation on the Darkness: all the demos are raw, yet completely revamped what the debut provided originally and showcased this huge change the band worked on. Numbered Days was lackluster and being raw wasn't doing it any good, especially how bad the clean vocals and drums were recorded and mixed. Though the new version improved this song so much by adding the extra melodies at the beginning of the song, which the demo lacked. Transfiguration, which was the original title for Fixation of the Darkness lacked some major parts compared to the new version, which again proves how these songs improved. In this song's demo version, it lacked some required screams for the intensity, as well as Jesse's vocals not sounding as good as on the new version. The music was good, though. The final demo is the title track: its quality was bad, it lacked a lot of the significant screaming heard in the newer version, and the chorus felt a lot heavier, but not heavy in a good way. And for the final track in this huge edition of this record: the Howard version of Fixation on the Darkness musically sounds the same; obviously it's based on the original (not the demo) version, but Howard sounds like he's trying to imitate Jesse's voice in his baritone version. So basically... just listen to the original/Jesse's version since this version doesn't really sound any different.

Not only in its original tracklist it's the longest record from the band, but it's also not predictable like most of their other records' tracklists, where most of them have the length between three to four minutes and the music being either repetitive or predictable, or they're not as original and fresh as Alive or Just Breathing. Most of their records are still good; like I'm still mixed towards whether this record or As Daylight Dies or Jesse's return in Disarm the Descent is their best record Nevertheless, Alive or Just Breathing had HUGE impact behind it and the inspiration was astonishing.

On one hand, you still have the hope and positivity coinciding with the struggles in life and depression that Jesse faces. Though on the other hand, he was in a really bad spot during his first tenure with the band; ultimately leaving as he struggled during those dark times of his. As for his voice, as much as powerful his voice was in this record - or at least how it ended up sounding, this was actually his worse work ever. He blew his voice out on multiple occasions and never fully taken care of it or learned how to control it carefully probably until he returned fully in 2012. But hey, this didn't stop in the final product, as he sounds good enough.

The good news is, the band only became popular and moved on as Howard was recruited, which eventually started the argument of who's the better singer. But at the end of the day, while Howard helped the band continue and opened new bridges in the vocals department and how different the band started to sound, though eventually having to departure ten years later, too. Jesse was always the main force when it comes to the vocals.

Might be a controversial pick, but the best songs are: Numbered Days, Self Revolution, Life to Lifeless, Just Barely Breathing, The Element of One, and Rise Inside. It's a perfect balance of all the examples I mentioned, that landed themselves on these six songs when it comes to the groove, the catch, the melody, the length and depth, the atmosphere, and the elaboration. These six songs perfectly describe the music more than the other ones.

I had forgotten how great this album is. Now that KsE are going to play a gig in my country I thought that it’d be nice to attend, so I went back to listen to their albums, and when I got to Alive or Just Breathing… man, I went crazy again. No matter how much you hate metalcore, the genre could deliver some gems throughout the years. One of those gems is Killswitch Engage’s second album Alive or Just Breathing.

First of all, if there is something bad about this album, it is that it layed the foundations of a genre that was repeated and ripped off to death by countless of bands that little contributed to the scene, giving it a bad image and overshadowing a lot of quality acts, despite their good intentions to come up with something interesting to the metalcore scene. Throughout the album there are lots of elements that were adopted exactly as they are here on this album by newer bands, without even a minimum change. The patterns and some riffs that we can find in songs like 'The Element of One' have become mandatory these days. These guys couldn’t guess what would happen with this album some years later, so blaming nowadays musical stagnation on them isn’t viable. Nevertheless, the album’s transcendence and his influence on the new millenium’s music is clearly undeniable. Now, onto the music.

This metal and hardcore hybrid is at its best here. My intention is not to do a track-by-track review, but try to highlight the moments where this album shines the most. Nonetheless, in order to be able to do so, I want to put aside one aspect of this album that is its biggest flaw. As much as I like metalcore, I always try to put an objective eye on everything I want to analyse. Therefore, KsE’s songwriting shows good intentions, but is ruined by the constant return to the use of breakdowns. I don’t mind one or two throughout the album, or even more if they’re well made and emplyed, but when it becomes an essential part of the band, it turns out as something really annoying and tiresome. There are some really good up-tempo songs in here that are considerably watered-down by the inclusion of this musical resource.

Flaws aside, for those who are willing to go beyond the breakdowns of the album, the band delivers some good quality songs, as the highly hardcore-influenced opener 'Numbered Days', with its heavy riffs, a noticeable gothenburg influence and an outstanding performance by Jesse Leach '-fall, fall, FAAAAAAAAALLLLLL', the faster and thrashy numbers like 'To the Sons of Man', 'Vide Infra', a re-recorded track from their first full-length, which leans towards the death metal side (always within the metalcore spectrum) with some quasi-blast-beats or 'Self Revolution', which slows down a bit during the chorus; instant hits like 'My Last Serenade' or the groovy 'Fixation on the Darkness'. Still, the album has something more to offer, and between the best songs in here we can find 'Just Barely Breathing'. Songs like this one, shows the band experimenting with some good ideas. The song starts with a clean guitar tone, that slowly progresses and builds up until the electric guitar joins in to explode into one of the fastest and more aggressive songs of the record, with unbelievable screams by Jesse accompanied by a groovy riff. Now, I’ve read several times people complaining about the cheesyness of the lyrics, and though I recognize that some of them fall under this characteristic, it is in songs like this one that the band recreates really beautiful atmospheres. I want to highlight specifically the chorus of the song:

The sky weeps tonight, our bodies washed away
I am waiting for you, deliverance
The sun falls through the clouds
Hear my cry.

This verse in particular, added to Jesse’s voice softly singing behind the instruments, succeeds in building a truly emotional atmosphere that is really pleasant to the ear. Wether it is when Jesse screams or when he uses his clean singing, one can hear that he fully commits to the singing and he does it with all his soul and feeling. The other day I was on the bus, it was already night time and this song played. Man, it was magic.

This is a truly emotional and moving album, and though it’s a young genre, a fundamental piece in metalcore’s history. If you really dig the genre you have to try this out (I won’t see why you wouldn’t have done it already), and I also recommend it to people that is not so familiar with metalcore and is willing to try something different, as the musicians are all at an excellent level and they totally nailed this album.

In a way, this could be considered the seed for the explosion of melodic metalcore. This was probably the first metalcore album to really combine mid-paced, mosh friendly groove metal and late 90's hardcore with up tempo melodic death metal. The overall feeling to this album is very confused and disorientated, as with most music that combines sharply contrasting genres. The overall disorganized approach is the Achilles' heel to this album. There are plenty of good ideas present, but when juxtaposed they tend to blur together.

But in spite of this major flaw, this is a fairly enjoyable listen. Delightfully clear and heavy production, tight musicianship, and a simultaneously bleak and beautiful atmosphere. The guitar work is full of catchy, crunchy, melodic, and groovy riffs. The bass rings clear through the mix (a rarity in this sub genre) and supports the guitar work well. The drums just bludgeon the listener, but aren't too overbearing. The vocals are diverse and very emotive. Jesse pulls off high shrieks that resemble a halfway point between Angela Gossow and Phil Anselmo, shout/grunts not unlike Phil Anselmo on the Great Southern Trendkill, and diverse clean sections.

If you like Gothenburg melo-death, 90's hardcore, and groove metal, then you might enjoy this album. If you're a fan of metalcore, then this is a must have. If you absolutely loathe metalcore, then you might want steer clear of this album as it probably started all the metalcore cliches that most metal purists hate.

Back in 2002, a relatively unknown metalcore band from Massachusetts released their sophomore album through RoadRunner Records. Unfortunately the band appear to have fallen from grace since. However, this album is still being quoted today as one of the finest moments in metal history, and rightly so. Whilst retaining the aggression from their first album, the band have also included more melodic elements and variety on this release, with some impressive results.

Comparing this band's debut and sophomore album, it is astonishing how far this band has improved. Granted, there is still the pounding metalcore, but the band have tightened and branched out their sound. This diversity becomes evident in songs like “My Last Serenade” with its relaxing harp intro and “Just Barely Breathing” with its use of tremolo in the pre-chorus. The inclusion of acoustic interludes is used as an effective constrast, especially in the build-up to the rumbling anthem “Rise Inside”.

It is impossible to speak of Killswitch Engage without giving due attention to its vocalist, the versatile Jesse Leach. From just one man come the high-pitched shrieks, shouts, gutteral growls, whispers, and clean vocals upon which the album rests. Leach is an incredibly passionate performer and lyricist; his lyrical topics cover life's positive and negative aspects, ranging from unity and compassion to a wake-up call directed at those who are "just breathing" rather than truly living. The line "No-one is placed higher than another/No matter race or creed or gender" from Vide Infra is a personal favorite.

Despite diversifying their sound, Killswitch Engage have also tightened it as mentioned. The production has been kicked up a notch, and the muddy guitars of the debut now sound crisp and polished. Fans of the lo-fi production may not like this, but I believe it enhances the experience. Being able to hear the bass and drums accurately makes all the difference, and everything unites together in harmony. Even the songs taken from the debut have been given this makeover, and accurately show the transition that the band has made.

In short, Killswitch Engage have made an enormous leap from their debut to create an impressing lasting album that is well worth checking out. If you like groovy metalcore with tight musicanship and thought-provoking lyrics, then I highly recommend this release.

Originally found on: http://www.mostlymetal.wordpress.com

*Just thought I'd redo this review, the older version was my first every review and it sucked.

It seems like in every genre there's a few decent bands. No matter how inherently shit a genre is, there'll be a few moments of glory. Nu-Metal had System of a Down's debut. Rap had Public Enemy. Well, this is Metalcore's example. Somehow, KsE managed to be melodic without being cheesy and/or emo, and heavy without relying totally on z-grade Gothenburg melodeath riffs.

It's quite hard to pinpoint exactly how they do it, though. Perhaps these guys are the most cliched metalcore band out there, but at the very least they execute the usual metalcore-isms perfectly. The melodic bits are epic, simply put. The title track has possibly the most epic chorus in all of metalcore, and it's like that throughout the whole album. KsE's song structures aren't the most originial, but holding back on the epic chorus pays dividends here- these guys don't blow their big chorus load too soon, so by the time it comes it's really, really good. Other great examples of the huge chorus would be Temple from The Within's epic beast of one, while Numbered Days is just really triumphant. It helps that Jesse has a great singing voice. His lyrics are probably the weak point of the album, but he has a lot of passion, and he puts everything he has into the vocals.

Of course, melodic stuff is good, but the heavy stuff has to deliver as well. Again, KsE don't let us down. The title track gets it's doom on before going all mad thrash on us, Vide Infra is nice and speedy with a rather excellent tremelo picked chorus, and To the Sons of Man is short, thrashy and really quite heavy. Hell, even 'The Element of One' gets out of it's power balladry once in a while to give us some excellent, and quite technical melodic death riffs. Speaking of melodeath, there is some In Flames and At the Gates stuff here, but it's not *that* obvious, and everything here sounds quite fresh. It helps that the guitars have a really massive tone as well, and the screamed vocals are really ferocious. Yep, the heavy stuff is just as quality as the melodic parts, and unlike so many of their contemporaries it sounds like KsE actually means it.

..I've just noticed that I've effectively reviewed the heavy and melodic stuff separately. Let me just assure you that there really isn't any feel of separation. It's all very seamlessly arranged and put together pretty well. While 'To The Sons of Man' has a slightly forced melodic break, everything else flows really well- there's no awkwardness here. Even 'The Element of One', possibly the closest to emo song here, flows from it's super teary chorus to it's big riffs really easily.

Basically, this album delivers some seriously high quality metalcore. The vocals are excellent, the guitars are excellent, and the rhythm section is unobtrusive but always play to the benefit of the song. There isn't that much unnecessary double kick either! These guys totally nailed this album, and it's great to listen too. Even if you hate metalcore with a deep, burning passion, you should check this album out.

This was the edge of the pitfall before everlasting darkness was cast upon these guys. The line-up from the self titled still remains, Jesse Leech on vocals, Joel Strotzel on guitars, Mike D'antonio on bass, and Adam Duckwicz on drums and secondary guitars. You can still tell here that Adam's hand in the writing was STILL nowhere near as involved as it would be on the coming shitfest "The End Of Heartache".

The poppy elements Adam would bring into the band are here but they are kept to a perfectly dialed back minimum. Clean vocals are used far more often here but it doesn't make it bad, every chorus in this album is superb despite the predictable formula that it will be clean vocals with maybe some screams to back it up. The infamous lead single off this album "My Last Serenade" has a simple, yet absolutely superb chorus brimming with emotion and feeling, along with the songs start and stop chugging riffs, a trademark of KSE that would begin on this album. "Numbered Days" is a stomping groover with some nice fast melo-death sections and an awesome interlude riff, this track also opens the album but in this case it works, being nowhere near as subdued as "Temple From Within" felt opening the self titled. "Self Revolution" is a melodic thrasher with an epic chorus, while it's followed up by the stomping fury of "Fixation On The Darkness" which is offset by a beautiful acoustically driven chorus. "Life to Lifeless" follows in the same fashion minus the acoustic guitars. Then comes KSE's most brutal and best song they wrote "Just Barely Breathing", anyone who doesn't get sent into a headbanging frenzy when that main thrash riff kicks in after the epic intro is an idiot. Much like what I've said about the self titled, the rest of the songs follow in the tradition layed out by the previous songs, it is worth noting though that "Temple From Within" and "Vida Infra" are in re-recorded glory on here, "Vida Infra" being even faster then the self titled version.

The vocals on this album to me are almost the highlight of the entire thing. They are sung and screamed with such passion that it's hard to believe this band went to go down sell out road like they did, because Jesse Leech had a set of pipes on him. The guitars on this album have a beefy yet low gain tone to them which ends up in a nice heavy sound but it isn't over saturated, every note is distinguishable as well as the bass which is meaty and extremely audible. The drums are produced superbly with, well.... I don't know how to say this but, an atmospheric feel I guess? They fill a good deal of sonic room. The lyrics are, I'll be honest, typical metalcore tripe, but they were still better here then what they would come to embrace later. I love this album though, this was my first introduction to metalcore and I think it proved that the genre did have potential once upon a time. This sounds fresh and powerful unlike their works from here on out which would be so butchered and neutered I couldn't believe this was the same band. I thought that there was really something here, but how wrong I'd be proven later but still to this day I listen to this album, and I still think it kicks some ass for what it is. Don't dismiss it because it's metalcore, give this an earnest shot, seriously.

How does one take an already awful idea and make it worse? I may not have the answer. Killswitch Engage, however, have crafted an enormously successful career out of doing exactly this, and their sophomore effort Alive or Just Breathing reeks of everything wrong with the first effort stretched into a near caricature of the most commercially realized cash cow since the Teletubbies. Somewhere between the dawn of the century and this record's release, Jesse Leach realized that he could sing with all the melodic power of the burgeoning Californian pop-punk scene, and he will remind us repeatedly here just how wonderful it will sound when mixed in with a miserable roll of mosh core, tranquil radio friendly segues and an almost intolerable level of In Flames worship.

Have you ever been shopping at the local superstore mall, browsing through American Eagle, Abercrombie & Fitch or Bath & Body Works, dreaming of the days your favorite Gothenburg melodeath band would be acceptable enough to play on the carefully plotted and positioned satellite radio stations used for capitalist ambiance? Well, Alive or Just Breathing might just have your ticket, because it is one of the safest, most stagnant records I've ever heard. The few worthwhile guitar licks on the album are interspersed with an enormous level of emotional pop shit that would even cause everyone's favorite Swedes to cringe in dismay. I don't mind a bit of In Flames, mind you. I love their first few albums, and in fact I've even enjoyed a few of their later albums where the band returned to memorable, if modernized songwriting that dragged up the uplifting force that made the band famous in the first place.

Alive or Just Breathing is like the close-cut, metrosexual cousin to early 21st century In Flames. You could discuss this around the kitchen table with your liberal girlfriend and her family living in some gated community, and when you feel angry and run out of Paul Walker/Vin Diesel car chase movies to sate that raging beast within you, you could totally choke a few bitches to the powerful positivity and pop sentimentality of "Self Revolution" or the vicious overtones of "Just Barely Breathing". Remember when that unnamed singularity hit Earth around the mid 90s that made the underground metal majority turn their anger on Texas rodeo metal howlers Pantera? This record is so full of cheaply plotted chugging breakdowns and worthless pretty girl pandering that even the most jaded Anselmo antagonist will pine for the days when Far Beyond Driven was the greatest evil in the world to rally against.

There are exceptions to the rules of the road here, like the first :45 of "To the Sons of Man", a fast-paced melodic death/thrash number with a few exciting riffs, but even here the band have to soil themselves and lapse into a breakdown coma, followed by clean vocal backups and less interesting riffs. Still, this is the best song on the entire album, and its limited to just 2 minutes of total playtime. "Temple from the Within" and "Vide Infra" are included from the debut with sparkling new production values, but since they were not good to begin with, they haven't exactly improved in the few intervening years. "Life to Lifeless" shifts between soulful clean vocals ala Puddle of Mudd to a Panterrible swagger of its own, with one half-decent thrash riff in the center that makes the remainder so goddamn frustrating, until that riff itself morphs into a fuckwit breakdown as well. Otherwise, this album falls apart almost immediately with "Numbered Days", a roiling pit fest of emotional peaks and valleys with Earth Crisis vocals, emo bridge and enough lame squeals to populate a Guitar World convention.

I've read numerous accounts of Alive or Just Breathing that hold it in extremely high regard, as if it were the Noah's Ark or saving grace of the melodic death/metalcore merger as it has been run through numerous corporate hands and approved for Jagermeister or Vans sponsored tours across the bleak suburban landscape. This is like the best album ever, like, they totally played "Fixation on the Darkness" at my junior prom. Are you fucking kidding me? This album is one of the most loathsome approximations of its confused identity genre; a stagnant waste of time and space that could only appeal to the biggest suckers among us. Shame on you for buying this, blowbacks and throwbacks. I sentence you immediately to confine yourselves to a stereo and listen through all of Kelly Clarkson's discography, which is more brutal by a landslide.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

This is an album by Killswitch Engage from back when they actually put out decent music, and not the half-assed watered down music that they have been releasing since The End of Heartache.

The first thing that is immediately noticeable in this record is the excellent vocal performance of Jesse David Leach. The guy has really poured his heart and soul out here. Right from his screams to melodic singing, every word oozes out passion and determination.

The guitars have a nice edgy tone and deliver pounding riffs, interspersed with layers of tasteful chord strumming for the choruses, with the occasional acoustic guitar part. And hey of course, some killer breakdowns – what can you expect? This is metalcore. The breakdowns don’t sound forced, but fit nicely into the overall texture of the songs. Joel Stroetzel is at the top of his game here. I guess Adam Dutkiewicz wasn’t interfering too much with the guitar parts since he was the drummer when this album was recorded. Joel delivers some crushing, yet catchy riffs (check out Numbered Days, Fixation on the Darkness, Vide Infra and the title track).

The bass is largely inaudible because it is tightly intertwined with guitars and does little on its own, except occasionally taking the foreground for intros or bass-only parts.

I must say that the drumming is spot-on and really carries the songs well, while still playing some interesting stuff (check out the title track, Self Revolution and Numbered Days). Adam D plays the drums well and should have stuck to that!

To sum up, this is a well-balanced album. It contains elements of Gothenburg metal, hardcore, and even hints of melodic rock at times. These guys are good musicians, but all albums released after this one reek of commercialism and laziness in utilizing their musical potential.

Early Killswitch Engage seems to be the fan favorite. I just don't know having Howard Jones as the band's vocalist.I mean, "As Daylight Dies" is somewhat good, and "Killswitch Engage II" also has its times, though the screams there are scarce, so I decided to hear their second album, "Alive or Just Breathing". Let's take a look

First of all, the production quality is more or less clean, with the bass barely audible, though it seems alright for a metalcore band. The vocals are the first thing I've noticed. The grunt-like screams, featuring Jesse Leach, sound raspy, giving it much edge and vigor. the clean vocals are pretty average , but since it's uncommon, it's just okay. The music could be described as having more hardcore than metal, though the guitars are heavy enough to be metal, all mixed with a melancholic edge, though one shouldn't expect solos here, because you won't find any. The only thing I didn't like here is the appearance of too much breakdowns. Sure, it won't hurt to have some breakdowns here and there, but there is just too much in this album. The rhythm is usually mid-tempo, though it becomes aggressive sometimes and slow at some melancholic parts.

"Self-Revolution" is the first song worth a mention here. It has the aggressiveness hardcore has with melancholic twist. "To the Sons of Man" is one short song with a lot pf aggressive riffs and a very pummeling intro. "Vide Infra" is the last recommended song here with a pummeling intro and aggressive riffs that will definitely rock you out. Overall, this is a good offering by Killswitch Engage, though I would want more aggressiveness and less breakdowns. besides, metalcore really isn't much of my thing anymore. If you are finding an album that will make your head bang by the wicked screams, heavy riffs and breakdowns, then this is for you. At least, this isn't like any of those Underoath clones you often see around.

Originally made for http://mystifymyserie.blogspot.com

In the metal community, metalcore is a genre that is generally frowned upon and with good reason; generic riffing, emo lyrics, boring breakdowns, and a general lack of musicianship seem to abound in the metalcore genre. Killswitch Engage’s recent material is no exception to this rule. However, before Killswitch Engage descended into the black morass of mallcore, they bestowed upon us a kick ass album in Alive or Just Breathing.

Please, do not judge this album until you have heard it; it is nothing like The End of Heartache or As Day Light Dies. Sure it retains the same formula; growled verses, sung refrains, but on Alive or Just Breathing it actually sounds fresh and interesting. This is mostly because Killswitch’s old singer, Jesse Leach is a far superior singer to his replacement, Howard Jones. Unlike Jones, Leach’s growls have control and appear to come effortlessly. On Alive or Just Breathing, Leach goes from almost death metal style growls to high-pitched shrieks and everything in between. Leach’s clean vocals are also superb and the way he goes from harsh to soft vocals is nothing short of amazing. Leach’s vocal range results in the songs on this album having more variety than any of Killswitch’s future albums. It is unfortunate that the style that Leach pioneered on Alive or Just Breathing would be repeated ad nauseam on all following Killswitch albums and copied by countless other metalcore bands.

Musically, the album is pretty interesting as well. Don’t get me wrong, the guys in Killswitch Engage are not virtuosos by any means, but they are very solid. The album musically stands out the most in the guitar department. Nearly every song on this album has a catchy and memorable riff. For those of you who hate metalcore don’t worry, there are plenty of head-bangable guitar parts on this album. Also, many of the songs have thrash metal-style riffing, something conspicuously absent from later releases by this band. While the album lacks guitar solos, they are not missed; the songs on this album are fast and short and solos would only serve to damage the flow of the album. The drumming is standard metalcore fare with several standout points such as the double bass in Just Barely Breathing. Bass guitar is barely audible and not very interesting, but this is not a big deal because people don’t normally listen to metalcore for the bass anyway. Lyrically, the album is pretty good. If you were to go and read the lyrics to some of the songs, you would probably think they sound trite and cliché, but in the context of the music they work perfectly.

Incase you couldn’t tell from my description of the music and lyrics, Alive or Just Breathing isn’t an album that is going to blow you away with its deepness and complexity. At the end of the day, it’s just a really well done metalcore album. Other than Jesse Leach’s extremely powerful vocal performance, the rest of the album is just “solid”. By “solid”, I mean there is really nothing to complain about, but there is also little that makes this album stand out from the pack. If you are adamant in your hatred of the genre, this album isn’t going to change your mind, but if you are at least a bit open-minded, give Alive or Just Breathing a chance.

Say hello to the album that more or less ignited the entir metalcore invasion. From the thundering palm muted riffs to the effective melodic releifs: from the furious roaring to the gentle crooning; no band pulled it off quite as well as KsE do here.

The most important accomplishment KsE is the seemless blend of rythmic, chugging hardcore riffs alongside thrash metal riffing that is decidedly melodic. This blend was to be later derived by later metalcore bands. Another aspect that so many metalcore bands attempt to plagiarize but end up ruining is vocalist Jesse David Leach's brilliant performance. He manages to shift from a guttural, throat ripping roar to a gentle, soothing clean voice with little or no effort. Most notably his voice contains an undeniable sense of urgency throughout, something nearly all the copycats lack.

Not only is Jesse's voice, but so is the rest of the music as a whole. Indeed most of the lyrics contain personal reflections concerning a society in decline and a desire for change. The way these lyrics are expressed is by utilizing pummeling rythms and roaring vocals to symbolized dissatisfaction with society. Afterwards the clean singing ensues over a mild, melodicd backing as if though offering some kind of hope. This is another aspect that modern metalcore bands lack. Concise and varied songwriting.

There are a few gripes on this album. The songwriting could have bit less recursive, and the transitions between each tempo and/or rhythm change could have been smoother. Some of the songwriting is a bit fragmented. It is also worth noting that this band believes love will solve everything. However that may not be true in many cases. Opposites must co-exist. Nonetheless, every song is thoroughly enjoyable, making for one hell of a heavy album.

Killswitch are very hit or miss in the metal community. If you can stand metalcore and take it for what it is, you might like them. If you're too "troo" and only stick to "real metal" you will find them annoying and typical of the genre. Don't listen to this and expect some Dark Angel or Suffocation or something else of the like, rather expect a sound that fits in a particular style and which is well crafted.

KsE have done something very intersting with their sound. It is very apparent that Adam D is a Berkely graduate because the songwriting is very particular and very well arranged. The band has taken very pop-like structures and fit them in a more hardcore and metal sound. Many may find this boring and formulaic, but I find it took balls to do what they did, and it made them pioneers of a now (in)famous genre.

The band was firing pretty hard on this release and the performance from now ex-vocalist Jesse Leach was very well recieved and with good reason. The man sang and shouted with emotion and gave it all he got on this release. His screams range from a more high pitched tone to a lower, more hardcore sounding style. However, to me it's his clean singing that shines the brightest on this record. He had intensity and blissful emotion all cuaght up in one package. On to the actual songs.

"Numbered Days" introduces the record very well in that it captures the essence of the band's sound with the contrast of brutality and melody all in one. The riffs are nice and beefy and the rythm is very strong and pulses well into an organic flow. "Self-Revolution" is my favorite track on the record. The chorus is just outstanding and catches the band at their finest hour. Once again the rythm section is what keeps the song alive. The structure is interesting because it's as if there are two choruses. There's the "Breaking the foundation..." part which is my favorite, then there's the "In this search for I and I..." part which is very melodic and has some amazing dual vocal interplay. "Fixation on the Darkness" has a very catchy verse riff and vocal element which makes it easily a fan favorite. "My Last Serenade" is the band's hit. This song has probably the catchiest and best produced chorus on the record. It has been a staple of the band's live set for some years now and is even known by some people outside of the metal community.

The rest of the album flows very nicely, with "Life to Lifeless", "Just Barely Breathing", "Temple from Within" and "Vide Infra" all well known tracks, the latter two being present on the eponymous release.

If you can get past the fact that this is a metalcore act, it is very easy to appreciate this record. Solid songwriting, good production and nice catchy riffs make this a record you might find yourself listening to often enough.

This is “KsE's” big label debut. The main question to be asked here is, does this CD make itself heard in the sea of a thousand similar metalcore bands? Does this CD impress instead of actually annoying a person to death? The answer is a big NO. This is yet another over-hyped CD and although it's free from the total emotitude of its successor, it still is pretty damn repetitive and annoying. Yet, “KsE's” earlier albums have always been about 10 points ahead of the next. This one is no exception. Neither is it a progression or regression from their last CD, it's just the same thing played in a worse fashion each album.

Metalcore band's can only be judged on a scale of HOW annoying it can get. The more annoying, the less the points and the less annoying having more points. Only one band is an exception to this - Shadows Fall. Rather than being the breakdown galore of “KsE”, Shadows Fall have riffs and leads and song-structure's different enough from the prototype -core band without the stupid clean vocals. This is lesser annoying than KsE's latest album on three counts - No free-flowing emo-ness, Jesse has a less annoying voice than your prototype metalcore vocalist, there are more melodies here.

Musically, nothing's different at all! The guitarists still play breakdowns all day and this thing would really be Hardcore if not for the melodies. I'd vote what KsE play - 95% hardcore and 5% metal. KsE don’t solo as usual. Jesse isn't mixed in as awfully high as some of the other metalcore vocalist and that's a plus point. He even doesn't totally screw up on the choruses too and can sing better than your average metalcore vocalist (even if that's hardly a compliment). In fact, KsE (in some songs) manage to achieve a sort of spacey feel in the chorus.

On a song level, "Numbered Days" is your typical metalcore song (i.e. rubbish) and "Self Revolution" has a nice break in 0:31 minutes and a few catchy melodies and bearable vocal work. "Fixation of the Darkness" too has some interesting melodies and a well-done chorus (surprise!) besides that is normal KsE suckage with a rather abrupt ending. "My Last Serenade" is usual metalcore with a bearable chorus. "Just Barely Breathing" starts off with a great intro and is a rather bearable song with an awful break mid-length. "To The Sons of Man" is a needless interlude with too much of the hardcore feel to the vocals. "Temple from Within" from their debut is bearable at best. "Element of One" starts off well but goes for the usual metalcore stuff, absolutely nothing to see here - move on. "Vide Infra" is remotely bearable with a chorus that just sucks. "Without A Name" is another needless interlude. "Rise Inside" starts off with an awesome acoustic part and again fragments into normal metalcore rubbish.

Although this thing is more bearable than the other KsE efforts, it still isn't worth a listen. There are only two songs that are VERY remotely good here - "Temple from Within" and "Just Barely Breathing". If you’re a metalcore fan and you don’t have this - I'm damn surprised about that as this is regarded as the holy grail of metalcore albums. For the metalhead - Don’t get this one; if you want metalcore get yourself some Shadows Fall instead. At least "Shadows Fall" have riffs, solos and they don’t overdo the breakdowns, a true representation of what metalcore should be - unlike this tripe.

Despite the way the members looked when this album was recorded (slightly nu..) This album is a bludgeoning crush fest. The riffs here are extremely heavy and totally destroy. These destructive riffs, in marriage with Jesse Leech' vocal assault make this album brutal. Not Nile/Sepsism brutal, but still very brutal. And there's irony too! Beautiful and serene melodic breaks. I can't think of a band who does the 'Heaven/Hell' thing better than Killswitch Engage, stunning.

Song after song, this album stays amazing. From the chest collapsing lead off 'Numbered Days' to the beautiful hell of closer 'Rise Inside'. This album would get a straight 100, if not for minor mishap or two. Such as the intro to 'Just Barley Breathing'; really slow and boring opposed to the rest of the albums in your face crush, and the acoustic intro to 'Rise Inside' feels a bit redundant. But everything else here is top notch. The Drumming is competant and gets the job done, the guitar work is crunchy and fancy, the bass is very much audible, the vocal work is just outstanding. Jesse Leech manages to go everywhere; bellowing growls, high shreiks, call out shouts and beautiful clean singing. It's a shame he left the band, maybe End of Heartache wouldn't sound half-assed were he still in the band.

Even more irony for this band is the lyrical themes. It's a bit odd to hear Jesse, as brutal as he sings, growling lines such as 'we must teach forgiveness and compassion for all life ' or 'I believe love will overcome'. Odd but still as awesome as anything else on this album.

I see Alive or Just Breathing as a piece of art; beautiful while filled with brutality at the same time. I can't imagine Killswitch will ever top this modern masterpeice, but time will certainly tell. Highly recommended.

Recomened Listening: Numbered Days, Self Revolution, To the Sons of Man, Temple from the Within, Vide Infra.

How KSE went from the darlings of the underground metalcore scene to touring with Dark Tranquillity is anybody's guess... Alive or Just Breathing, their first album for Roadrunner, is decidely more metal and less core. Their love for vintage At the Gates and Iron Maiden is apparent (perhaps too apparent?) but the abundance of breakdowns and danceable tempo changes prevents them from becoming another gothenclone.

Numbered Days begins like an old school metal song (the pick squeals, dude!)... until an inappropriately emotional chorus kicks in. This is my sole problem with Alive or Just Breathing... too many random clean vocals. See Fixation on the Darkness.

Of course, this formula runs smoothly on My Last Serenade, an extremely well written instant classic and crowd singalong. You can't deny that hook... it was stuck in my head for a month after I saw the video. Temple From the Within is a s/t holdover and another classic... the rerecorded version lacks alot of the original's flare. Metal fans will dually enjoy Self Revolution, a scorching Slaughter of the Soul tribute with some killer riffs

I'll end this review by granting my condolensces to the old KSE vocalist, who blew his voice out just as the band was breaking through. =(. Howard Jones, formerly of equally talented metalcore band Blood Has Been Shed is a worthy replacement.

KSE are a band that come under fire from a lot of people, with fans of hardcore complaining they are too metal and vice versa. Whatever side you stand on, if any side, this is still a metal cd. What comes as a surprise (and a good one), KSE signed with Roadrunner, which is home to many mallcore & second rate rip off bands. This is probably the best release on RR in a long time. Its heavy as fuck, but at the same time melodic.

It opens with the song Numbered Days and this is a great way to start off the cd, as it starts the second you push play and you don't have to sit through some stupid 2 minute intro or noise like some other cds. The song has a heavy vibe and goes at a mid pace for the first bit, before picking up. This is the first taste of what Jesse can do vocally, as around the 2:15 minute he shows off his clean vocals, which are very good. They go very well with his harsh screams and yells.

Self Revolution is next and starts with little introduction and goes right into the harsh vocals & heavy as hell riffs. The guitars aren't mindblowing talented, but have a heavy as shit sound. It has a softer chorus, as Jesse again throws out the clean vox, as he does on pretty much every song. This song has a good pace and is catchy.

Fixation on the Darkness is song three and is a wicked song. It really shows off the more melodic elements while still maintaining the heavy side of things. It has pretty good lyrics and is very easy to like, as the vocals go from screams from hell to melodic vocals. This song breaks down near the end with some harsh as hell vox and a thundering guitar sound. "Its time for CHHHAAANNNNGGGEEEEEEE!!"

My Last Serenade is the next and its still a good song, but probably the worst on the cd imo. It starts with a lone guitar and vocals in the distant background. It soon gets going though. It has a midpace and a great part before the chorus, but it gets kinda wussy during the chorus. This is probably the most accessible song on the cd.

Life to Lifeless is next and we're back to the crushing section again. It has a weak intro, as it is repetitive, until the vocals kick in at :30. It has the heavy edge until about 1:20 when some clean vocals show up, but not for long. The next part brings to mind some Swedish metal guitar work, as the crazy vox come back. This is a good song, but it doesn't feature much change, but still is a good headbanging track.

Just Barely Breathing starts off slowly, with a good build up. It goes from just guitar, to adding drums & bass. Again the guitar work here is similar to swedish metal and is slower paced for the first part. Fear not though, as this song will suddenly go BOOM and kick you right in the head. At 1:23 it starts and soon after a viscious scream and double bass attack it gets going. This is so far the most brutal and heavy track on the cd and its wicked awesome. The vocals are killer. There is a catch though, as the band slows things down around the halfway mark and the song changes. The clean vox come back, but its still a great song. The first 2:30 on this song are great and when the first screams rips out, thats headbanging time.

To the Sons of Man starts right away and is heavy from the first second. This song features a brutal breakdown with vocals from hell around :50 and I love every second of it. This is a short song and one of my faves.

Temple from the Within is a track that appeared on the bands first cd and this is a redone version of it. Again, with little fanfare, the song starts. This song has some cool riffs and the vocals shine again, ranging from some screams to melodic parts. I'm not sure if I like the original version or this one better.

Element of One is next track and things are slowed down a bit here, with some melody added. There still is the heavyness, but it goes well with the melody (it does on the whole cd). I love the last half of this song and its very easy to sing along with, as the lyrics can hit home with many people. "i am with you always i will never turn away from you"

Vide Infra again is a redone track and like many tracks before, starts off fast & brutal and will have your neck hurting. It has some cool guitar work which again brings to mind some swedish metal and a fast pace, along with the always awesome vocals. This song features strong lyrics, like the following, "no one is placed higher than another, no matter race or creed or gender, we must teach forgiveness and compassion for all life, through understanding of our differences, we will find respect for one another, we are all flesh and blood." This is great to see, when a band has strong lyrics that people can relate to. Add this to the intensity and brutal parts in this song and this song is one of the best on the cd.

Without a Name is a short instrumental song and its really quite nice. I could almost picture this being in flames. Near the end, the electric guitars creep in from the background and we fade into the last track, Rise Inside.

This song starts off with a dark brooding intro and starts to go, until the vocals kick in. Again, with have a brutal breakdown at a slow crushing pace. When the verse starts, its a slow pace which is just leading into the next part, where it picks up, with a clean chorus, until the crazyness comes back and here we go again. The song alternates between clean & crazy vocals throughout and again we are treated to strong lyrics. The vocals hurt my throat just listening to it! HAAAAATTTRRRRREEEEEDDDD is our WEAKNESS!!

In the end, this is a very awesome cd. Its heavy as shit, yet melodic at the same time. There is a perfect balance between the brutal & clean vocals. One of the reasons this cd is so good is the power of Jesse's vocals. I don't know how the band will fare now that he is gone. Another strong point is the crushingly heavy guitar and drumming. Among the many strong points is the lyrical content, as the lyrics are something many people can relate too and are actually thoughtfull. Check this cd out, its very much worth the time.

best songs imo: fixation on the darkness, just barely breathing, to the sons of man, element of one & vide infra.

Its true. I know some kids love to label them "nu-metal" (or "mallcore"), but really the only "nu-metal" thing about them is their label. These guys are just heavy fucking metal with brutal breakdowns. Imagine the intensity and heavy chugga-chugga breakdowns of Breed The Killers-era Earth Crisis mixed with the melodic metal riffage of At The Gates or "older" In Flames. Thats pretty much what Killswitch Engage is.

For those of you that have heard the band's self-titled release you'll notice a few differences once you listen to the band's Roadrunner debut. They didn't "water down" their sound for their new, much bigger label. They actually "metalled up" their sound for this album. They have added a second guitar to their sound, which allows them to do some sweet guitar harmonies and stuff.. Jesse, the vocalist, also uses a lot more clean vocals on this album than he did on the self-titled debut. But again, its not weaker at all. On the self-titled he would very occasionally do some singing, but it wouldn't be half as powerful as what he displays on here. And it wouldn't be as frequent either. Now its on almost every song, with some exceptions of course. Jesse's screams are still as intense and pissed off as ever, it seems as though they may have even improved on this album. And for those of you who have never heard his screamed/growled vocals, well you should take a listen. I love them.. very fucking angry, and they are definitely a stand-out feature of this band. For me, at least.

Overall this is a good metal release on Roadrunner. My only complaint is it may be a little "over-produced". It doesn't have a very raw sound to it, its all very polished.. but thats very minor. What really matters is that the music rocks, and it does. And to the kids who will say they're a nu-metal band, well fuck you. Maybe if you opened your mind and actually listened to the album you would change your mind. But it doesn't matter.. as long as I can enjoy it, who gives a fuck what genre it belongs to?