Throwback: 10 Best Metal Albums Of 2000
4. Killswitch Engage - "Killswitch Engage"
Still one of today's strongest contenders in the metal industry, Killswitch Engage released their debut self-titled album in July of 2000. Seeming to run out of album title ideas, they released another self-titled album nine years later, meaning that a lot of today's reviews of the original self-titled album need to now be suffixed with (2000). Great. Their first full-length album, it showcases Killswitch Engage in a course, unpolished, unedited way, but far from being amateur this is how the band were truly meant to be enjoyed.
With nothing much in the way of melody, Jesse Leach's vocals are allowed to create the atmosphere, with gut-wrenching screams that sound nothing short of savage when paired with the band's raw, uncompromising, unforgiving metalcore sound. It's unapologetically heavy yet not so heavy that the average newcomer to the genre will find themselves overwhelmed. It's approachable, yet not soft. Easy listening whilst being nowhere near easycore territory.
"Killswitch Engage (2000)" is still considered one of the first successful releases in the metalcore genre, paving the way for many mammoths to follow. Bands such as As I Lay Dying and Trivium, who also formed in 2000, took huge influence from the approach Killswitch Engage took to metalcore, and as such we have them to thank for the monolithic anthems present in today's music scene.