It's been a long five years since Killswitch Engage dropped their last album, but vocalist Jesse Leach has at least hopped back into the studio to guest on a new track from Arkansas metalcore heavies Terminal Nation.
The guest spot is on "Merchants of Bloodshed," a new single from the band's upcoming Echoes of the Devil's Den LP. It's a percussive pounder full of brimstone-scented guitar trilling and a demonic, plasma-dripping, politically-charged vocal trade-off between Terminal Nation frontman Stan Liszewski and bassist Chase Turner.
Things take a more melodic turn by the bridge, with goth organs and Leach's gruff-but-glorious bit of clean singing getting thrown into the mix. You can hear the collab up above.
"'Merchants of Bloodshed' is very much a sign of the times that we are living in now. It's a song about the business and profitability of war," Liszewski commented. "Either through proxy wars, through being the largest arms dealer in the entire world, or whatever non-defensive foreign intervention that the U.S. can find itself meddling in, as the song states, the international face of death is a grim reaper cloaked in an American flag. While innocent people dying is never good, profiting from it is simply incomprehensible."
On a lighter note, the singer also noted that the collab came up after Leach reached out over socials a while back, "which was wild to wrap our heads around, as Killswitch Engage is a band that helped introduce some of us to heavier music." It's a wonderfully punishing, full-circle moment for the Terminal Nation folks.
Terminal Nation previously teased Echoes of the Devil's Den with the Todd Jones-assisted "Written by the Victor." The album is set for release May 3rd via 20 Buck Spin.
