ALBUM REVIEW: Live At The Palladium – Killswitch Engage
Releasing a live recording of a show which wasn’t played in front of an audience is a ballsy move. Though when KILLSWITCH ENGAGE are involved, the balliser the better. Live At The Palladium is a record of firsts. Not only is this technically the first live album for the band, but it also features full playthroughs of the Atonement (2019) and self-titled (2000) records. Captured from last year’s Vaccinated And Intoxicated livestream event, the 20 tracks are spread across two discs.
Heading into Unleashed, the metallic ring of the single guitar fills the space nicely. Jesse Leach commands the ear with a single scream, his voice standing the test of time thanks to extensive vocal training. The crunch of Adam Dutkiewicz and Joel Stroetzel’s guitars after the raucous second chorus carries the same weight as the studio recording. While Dutkiewicz’s backing growls are slightly faster than Leach’s timing, the dynamic duo still works well together. As the song reaches its bigger moment, the lack of a crowd begins to show and renders the bridge less impactful.
For those expecting a certain Howard Jones to grace The Signal Fire, obvious restrictions at the time meant that simply couldn’t happen. Yet Leach and Dutkiewicz’s harmonies measure up just as well. We begin to hear the wonderful blend of hardcore and metal which make KILLSWITCH ENGAGE the metalcore heavyweights we know them as. The hardcore groove of The Signal Fire is mellifluous against calls of “broken, hopeless”. Us Against The World’s melodic intro fuses with Justin Foley’s pummelling drums to create a broiling point which Leach’s militant vocal delivery pushes over the edge. While the brutality of The Crownless King is relentless in its vitriol. Though there are points of rasp to Leach’s vocals, it’s undeniable this frontman demands recognition in his performance.
KILLSWITCH ENGAGE’s constant theme of overcoming mental health becomes more poignant as we find ourselves through the thick of the pandemic. With many of us emerging from the trying time with some form of anxiety or other affliction; I Am Broken Too and As Sure As The Sun Will Rise take on new meanings. The former gives each instrument room to breathe within the group. While some elements have been compromised for the live setting, there’s nothing blatantly missing other than the feeling of closeness. In terms of the latter, we find Dutkiewicz’s vocals could have been louder to bolster the song’s relentless nature. It’s the silence after “Pulled from the darkness/ Reborn in light” which hits like a freight train and prompts us to long for a live KILLSWITCH ENGAGE show.
That feeling doesn’t dampen with the leviathan Know Your Enemy. The spiralling riffs combined with the undulating rhythm section are divine to listen to. Taking up the mantle of militant preacher, Leach’s barks of “bow down to no one” are massive. The mosh call of “the target is in sight” and the thick breakdown which comes afterwards have us appreciating KILLSWITCH ENGAGE’s musical prowess after all these years. Take Control’s tale of being “trapped in the clutches of my own indecision” nestled against a more melodic than usual intro draws us into a state of empathy Leach is notorious for. The isolated vocal at the close of the song showcases Leach’s range but it’s with Bite The Hand That Feeds we truly hear the power of this frontman. Hardcore energy rules the roost with a heavy bass riff from Mike D’Antonio. As the melody slithers in, we become unsettled, allowing Leach to storm the gates and provide a full-frontal assault of visceral barks.
Belatedly celebrating the 20th anniversary of KILLSWITCH ENGAGE’s eponymous record, we find the intermission that had played during the livestream event has been skipped. While it’s not a huge loss for the record, it does feel cold to have very little speaking from the band between songs. The chaotic energy of The Temple From The Within’s riffs quickly whisk those doubts away. If we’re in the business of comparing the two albums, this is a completely different KILLSWITCH ENGAGE. In both line up and energy. With Justin Foley playing a lot of these songs live for the first time, and the rest of the band revisiting the material after many years, this KILLSWTCH ENGAGE feels rejuvenated. Vide Infra hits with the weight of a sledgehammer, Irreversal’s use of space within the frenetic energy brings the two elements of KILLSWITCH ENGAGE together. Leach’s screams of “embrace me” atop an infectious groove feed into the nostalgia for simpler times.
The reintroduction of these classic KILLSWITCH ENGAGE songs comes at a wonderfully welcome time. We find ourselves appreciating the band a lot more than we maybe had when Atonement first released. Absence makes the heart grow fonder after all. Leach’s guttural growls in Irreversal and Rusted Embrace show the work he’s put into his voice over the years. Though it’s with Soilborn we see the difference between then and now. The maturing KILLSWITCH ENGAGE has done sonically has done nothing but benefit their older material. In terms of a live album, the vastness of this track could have benefitted from a crowd somewhat, but these songs are so compact in nature, it may not be noticeable to the casual listener.
The biggest thing we take from the self-titled playthrough is how close these songs feel. In the livestreamed event this record was played within the Palladium’s “club room” which gave it that rabid energy. For those purely listening to the audio, that sense of warmth we would normally get from a mosh pit or generally just being in a venue mid-show conveys incredibly well. In The Unblind feeds into the incestuous being of this record as it draws from the track before it. The wonderful thing about a political KILLSWITCH ENGAGE song is that the band get the chance to stretch their hardcore legs in ways other material doesn’t allow for. This urgency of needing to “step into the unblind” fills us with second-hand adrenaline to “reclaim your life”. When set to low and slow riffs which just get under our skin, this penultimate song is pure metalcore perfection.
With Live At The Palladium coming to its close with Just Barely Breathing from 2002’s Alive Or Just Breathing, we’re confronted with a marriage of the two KILLWITCH ENGAGE entities. Not in terms of Jones vs. Leach but of innocence and experience. We hear the improvements Leach has made with his voice. The band as a sonic unit are much tighter when the two are compared. While this may not be the pinnacle of live albums, it can be used as a tool of reflection on one of metal’s most prolific bands. Though we can’t score this record on introspection, as much as we would like to. Releasing a live album with no crowd reaction feels misjudged in places but it still goes to show KILLSWTCH ENGAGE are a band to be reckoned with in the live arena.
Rating: 8/10
Live At The Palladium is set for release on June 3rd via Metal Blade Records.
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