12 Best Screamo Metal Bands Of All Time

Massachusetts heavyweights Killswitch Engage have been around since 1999 and still manage to put out consistently incredible records over 20 years later. The first two albums gained relative success, but it wasn’t until the introduction of frontman Howard Jones that the band gained real traction.

After their breakout album The End of Heartache dropped in 2004, the group were inescapable. Guitarists Joel Stroetzel and Adam Dutkiewicz offered up blisteringly technical riffs, which were contrasted with the powerful, soulful vocals of Jones. The End of Heartache gave an entry point to a normally aggressive style of music that the mainstream audience tended to avoid. Rock radio and TV channels had the title track on regular rotation and it wasn’t long before tours across the globe were selling out.

Killswitch Engage are often credited (alongside others) with the invention of the metalcore genre. It seemed as if the entire metal scene wanted to be this band and their influences can be found in so many tracks in the last fifteen or so years. Recently, the group has undergone another line-up change, with the band’s original vocalist Jesse Leach coming back to the fray.

Despite the initial disappointment surrounding Jones' departure, the new releases still manage to impress with 2019’s 'Atonement' being touted as one of their best efforts yet. Both the band and Jones are still on good terms, even teaming up for a track on the new album.