4. Killswitch Engage - Disarm The Descent
When the news broke that Killswitch Engage would be bringing original frontman Jesse Leach back into the fold to replace Howard Jones, it's safe to say that the band's fanbase were split down the middle. For many people, including myself, Howard Jones was the voice that defined Killswitch Engage's signature sound. Although they broke onto the scene with 2002's Alive or Just Breathing, which was the last album to feature Leach, it was The End of Heartache, released in 2004 that was the band's first stone cold classic album, one of the more outstanding pieces of work to emanate from the American metalcore movement of the early 2000's. Since then, however, the band have gone on to release two significantly sub-par albums, which served to leave them in somewhat of a difficult position; their catalogue consisted of enough top quality songs to entertain a festival crowd but their consecutive mediocre releases meant their relevance to modern metal was being called into question. All these fears were allayed when Disarm the Descent was released in the spring of this year. Not only is it probably the best work the band has ever put together, Jesse Leach's return has drawn a new sound from the band that is different to anything they've done before, including Alive or Just Breathing. It is definitely the bands fastest record, evident immediately from the outset by the way The Hell in Me thunders into being to open the record, drummer Justin Foley's playing almost approaching blast beats to drive the song along. As good as the rest of the bands contributions to the album undoubtedly are, Leach is the real star of the show, whose harsh screamed vocals juxtapose beautifully with his own soaring melodies that elevate songs like Beyond the Flames and A Tribute to the Fallen to the next level. These majestic vocal contributions, combined with ferocious guitar work from Adam Dutkiewicz and Joel Stroetzel, result in immensely catchy, driving songs such as first single In Due Time, which all serve to make this album infinitely more memorable than any of the bands previous work. Importantly, for diehard Killswitch Engage fans this provides a bountiful form of catharsis, especially for those who felt the band had not originally fulfilled their potential with Leach at the helm.