Jesse Leach Talks "Heavier" Vocal Approach on New Killswitch Engage Album | Revolver

Jesse Leach Talks "Heavier" Vocal Approach on New Killswitch Engage Album

Singer recently completed tracking, calling it "single hardest process I’ve ever had to deal with"
jesse leach killswitch engage SHINN, Travis Shinn
photograph by Travis Shinn

After undergoing surgery in April to remove vocal chord polyps, Killswitch Engage front man Jesse Leach has been very public with his recovery and return to the stage on social media. The singer kept up this pattern and took to Instagram over the weekend to confirm vocals for the band's new record are complete and he "personally leaned a bit more on the heavier side of things" in his performance. 

"All vocals for the new @killswitchengage album are complete. Blood (actual blood), sweat, tears, more sweat, anxiety, anger, hope, love, frustration, passion and full on heartbreak are injected into every single word. Can't wait for you to hear it when it's all complete!" he wrote in the post, crediting and thanking Killswitch guitarist and backing vocalist Adam D for his continued dedication to producing the band's albums in addition to his other duties. Leach calls D his "musical soul mate," continuing "The sheer amount of material, my vocal surgery, depression, anxiety and full on mental breakdowns all contributed to the painstaking process. Adam was patient and motivating me along the way. The man is a total champion!"

While no release date has been set, the album will be out on Killswitch Engage's new label Metal Blade sometime in 2019 and will feature the group's former vocalist Howard Jones on one track, with whom Leach reconnected as friends last February. 

The band will co-headline a tour with Parway Drive featuring openers Vein and After The Burial starting in April. 

Tour Dates: 

04/18 - San Francisco, CA – Warfield Theatre 
04/19 - Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Palladium
04/20 - Mesa, AZ – 98 KUPD – 98Kupd Ufest
04/22 - Colorado Springs, CO – City Auditorium 
04/23 - Wichita, KS – Cotillion Ballroom 
04/24 - Oklahoma City, OK – Diamond Ballroom 
04/26 - Dallas, TX – South Side Ballroom 
04/27 - Austin, TX – Stubb's Waller Creek Amphitheater 
04/28 - Houston, TX – So What Music Festival
04/30 - Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theater 
05/01 - Indianapolis, IN – Egyptian Room at Old National Centre 
05/03 - Jacksonville, FL – Welcome To Rockville (Killswitch Engage only)
05/04 - Atlanta, GA – Tabernacle 
05/05 - Nashville, TN – War Memorial Auditorium 
05/07 - Niagara Falls, NY – The Rapids Theatre 
05/09 - New York, NY – Terminal 5 
05/10 - New Haven, CT – College Street Music Hall  
05/11 - Philadelphia, PA – Franklin Music Hall (Outdoors) (Parkway Drive closes)
05/13 - Rockingham, NC – Epicenter 
05/14 - Silver Spring, MD – The Fillmore Silver Spring 
05/15 - Detroit, MI – The Fillmore Detroit 
05/16 - Milwaukee, WI – Eagles Club Stage 
05/17-19 - Columbus, OH – Sonic Temple Festival

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All vocals for the new @killswitchengage album are complete. Blood (actual blood), sweat, tears, more sweat, anxiety, anger, hope, love, frustration, passion and full on heartbreak are injected into every single word. Can’t wait for you to hear it when it’s all complete! Adam D is at the controls with more mixing, editing and arranging to do. I absolutely have to give Adam D a massive massive thank you for helping me more than any other record I’ve made. He is my musical soul mate and I don’t know what I would do with out him. This album wouldn’t be what it is without his determination and many many MANY hours of work. This process was the single hardest process I’ve ever had to deal with far beyond any album I’ve done, hands down. The sheer amount of material, my vocal surgery, depression, anxiety and full on mental breakdowns all contributed to the painstaking process. Adam was patient and motivating me along the way. The man is a total champion! Grateful to all of the guys in the band for their support. Stoked on their great and interesting song writing skills as well as just being patient with me. I believe the album has something for everyone who is a fan or digs what Killswitch is known for. I personally leaned a bit more on the heavier side of things, but we’ll see what makes the album when all is said and done. I’m looking forward to 2019 more than words can express. It’s been a super hard year for me personally as well as this album just haunting my thoughts and daily meditations. If nothing else I’ve given everything I have to this album. I truly hope my words on this piece of music are therapeutic, motivating and perhaps even inspiring for some of you out there. I know music is a huge part of my therapy and my life’s blood so it would be an honor to help anyone in anyway with the music we make. Welp...enough out of me I’m going to drink a few dark and stormy beverages by a fire and try to relax and enjoy the fact another album in my career is complete. Cheers and thank you ALL for your patience, it’s been a difficult (yet I hope rewarding in the long run) process. #KilswitchEngage #JesseLeach #SoulMetal #Hardcore #Metal #Rock #PunkRockMetalHead

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