Album Review: Killswitch Engage – This Consequence

My experience of Killswitch Engage is somewhat limited, and I’ve likely listened to them more live than I have while sat at home or in the car. They’re a hell of a live band and fully deserved that headline slot at Bloodstock a couple of years ago. They mix some nice melodies and lunacy with the heaviness that so many of us love, making for a perfect way to headbang and mosh the night away.

This Consequence is album number nine from the Western Massachusetts metalcore crew, a full six years after the release of Atonement. With a fairly steady lineup over the years (the only major change was the decade where Howard Jones took over from Jesse Leach) you’d expect their sound to stay fairly constant and arguably it has… until now.

Killswitch are a pretty heavy band. Around the clean guitars and melodic vocals and silly costumes worn by Adam Dutkiewicz, they know how to crush. But I daresay never as much as they do on This Consequence. Maybe my listening has been selective (as I said, mainly focused on their live material), but bloody hell does this album pound it home.

“Abandon Us” kicks things off with an incredible drum-led intro that’s designed to show off Justin Foley’s four-limbed talents and leads us into a song that encompasses all we know best from KSE – the clean and harsh vocals, crisp layered guitars, pounding rhythms, and some meaty breakdowns. All this and it’s one of the more mainstream / accessible songs on here. If you thought the intro to track one was “in your face”, it’s nothing compared to “Discordant Nation”. This one barely lets up for its full length, either.

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This is a theme throughout This Consequence. It’s like the band really have a lot of pent up aggression to release after that long delay since the previous release. As Leach says:

This Consequence, to me, is the combination of everything the past five years has thrown at us as a band, as humans, and society as a whole. This album is just as much about everybody and their stories as it is for me about my journey personally.

In fairness, there’s been a lot to be pissed off about since 2019… and it seems like a lot of it has made it onto the lands and grooves (or 1s and 0s if you’re streaming) of this album. That’s not to say that there aren’t some singalong or bounce-along moments. “I Believe” is borderline anthemic and “Collusion” has a great, uplifting chorus at least in terms of its tone. However, the majority of the sounds coming from the speakers encourage fist clenching and voices raised in protest.

This Consequence is a very strong release from a band with a solid history, and on the strength of a few listens I can’t see any existing fans being disappointed. Personally, I’m off to listen to some of the back catalogue to see how it does actually stack up.

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