LIVE(STREAM) REVIEW: Killswitch Engage @ Vaccinated And Intoxicated, Palladium, Worcester, MA
Before hitting the road with SLIPKNOT next month, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE encouraged us to get Vaccinated And Intoxicated. Following excerpts from 2016’s Beyond The Flames: Home Video Volume II, the metal stalwarts treated us to 90 minutes of ruthless aggression.
Frequenting their old haunt, Vaccinated And Intoxicated came to us from the Palladium in Worcester, MA. Having played their first show in the iconic venue in October 2000, there was no better place to celebrate 20 years of KILLSWITCH ENGAGE. Honouring both past and present, the band gave us exclusive live performances of 2000’s self-titled record and 2020’s Atonement in their entirety.
“It’s hard for me to act like I love playing in front of people that are just awkwardly pointing things at me,” guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz jokes before the show begins. Yet, there was no need for the, albeit jovial, hesitance. Launching straight into Unleashed, Jesse Leach asserts his dominance with his unmistakable screams. The riffs from Dutkiewicz and Joel Stroetzel are effortless in their crunch. Had Dutkiewicz not cracked his previous joke, no one would have guessed KILLSWITCH ENGAGE felt an awkwardness.
There are times the band flounders slightly. Leach paces the stage aimlessly in the beginning. A band has energetic as this needs a live audience to feed from. With that element of chaos missing, it takes the singer a while to adjust. When he does, Leach proves himself a force to be reckoned with. His vocal performance at the end of Signal Fire in particular is spine chilling.
Set within the crisp, clean environment of an arena, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE fills the room. With little to nothing said between each song, this is a band that doesn’t intend on letting up. Songs such as Crownless King and Know Your Enemy are militant. The mechanical chugs from Dutkiewicz and Stroetzel border on perfection. Leach’s gravelly barks of “Protest, demonstrate/ We must retaliate” launch the energy into the stratosphere.
In respect of the circumstance this livestream is happening, a rousing rendition of I Am Broken Too hits differently. Adopted by many as the anthem of their mental health, this is KILLSWITCH ENGAGE’s moment to connect. Regardless of geographical location “I know you can make it through” pulls us all together as part of the same cloth. The sheer gravity of I Am Broken Too, combined with the global situation calls for a cleaner production. With stripped back lighting programs and very few camera changes, focus gets pulled into the lyrics and makes this a well deserved highlight of the set.
Closing out the first half of the stream, the anticipation begins to build for what’s to come. Bite The Hand That Feeds fuels that expectation. We begin to analyse the band’s every movement and question whether this KILLSWITCH ENGAGE is the same as the one which exploded onto the scene in 2000.
As if to further draw out the excitement, the band has us on tenterhooks leading into the intermission. Wandering from the stage the band’s segue can only be described as campy. And we ate it up. In his usual dorkish manner, Dutkiewicz provokes the Palladium’s paranormal inhabitant, Ghostie. Through a portal of their own making, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE take us back in time. With wrestling shirts, African beads, and a brassy toned blond wig, we’re dumped at the beginning of the band’s illustrious career.
From the first seconds of Temple From Within, we’re watching an altogether different animal. Now in an intimate setting, the room is plunged in darkness, save for hazy lighting. The camera work is chaotic, feeding into the frenzy which comes from smaller shows. The two decades between then and now has changed this band for the better. The breakdowns from the self-titled record having become meatier with age.
Yet the more things change, the more they stay the same. We see Leach is more comfortable on a smaller stage. No song is more evident of this than Vide Infra. He easily plays to the camera and is much freer in his use of space. Whereas watching Mike D’Antonio wrestle with a dredlocked wig as he powers through is a sight to behold. The bassist’s command over his instrument and using it to carve through this already immense song is nothing short of impressive.
“This is my disposition/ I will strive for the truth” Leach barks over brain rattling riffs. Soilborn transforms KILLSWITCH ENGAGE into ferocious beasts. Attacking the song with a new zeal, Soilborn is almost an entirely different song. A full visual assault, it’s hard to know where our focus should be. In the end, we opt to sit back and enjoy this visceral spectacle. An honourable mention to the stage diver during In The Unblind. Landing face down and middle finger up on a concrete floor, this stunt captures KILLSWITCH ENGAGE’s ethos in a single thud.
With the end of the self-titled record, we wonder how this stream will end. Teasing a jam session of new material, Stroetzel picks Just Barely Breathing’s melody. With a puff of smoke, we’re taken back to the arena and present day. The magnitude of the sound shift is massive. It’s here we appreciate just how versatile this band has had to be. Seamlessly switching between soulful melody and ruthless crunch, it all looks so effortless and we long to be in the same room with KILLSWITCH ENGAGE once more.
Any doubt we and others once had about this band’s abilities were well and truly thrown out the window. While the band’s sound has matured over time, there’s no denying they can still hang with themselves. Exceeding the precedent they set themselves, Vaccinated And Intoxicated is KILLSWITCH ENGAGE’s welcome back in the fray. In the words of the band which have just delivered an exemplary performance: “Bow down to no one”. Except for KILLSWITCH ENGAGE.
Rating: 10/10
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