When you go to a metal show, any emotion can be conveyed. People laugh, cry, let out aggression or just attend the show for the experience itself.

Killswitch Engage, performed at Terminal 5, and like all the times they came to NYC, whether at a venue as big as big as Terminal 5 or Irving Plaza, or as small as St Vitus or Rough Trade, they made everything and more happen. 

Killswitch Engage is a band that can celebrate your victories in your greatest moments with a song like This is Absolution or Strength of the Mind. They can share your pain during your darkest with a song such as The Arms of Sorrow or It Falls on Me. Let out pure aggression with a song like Hate by Design or Vida Infra. Say fuck you to any politician with a song like You Dont Bleed for Me or The Great Deceit. Make you slow dance with a song like Always. 

This is just a few of the many examples of what one can experience at a Killswitch Engage show. After Vein brought their signature hardcore sound, After the Burial brought the dethcore and djent, and Parkway Drive brought their pure aggression and powerful melodies with mesmerizing lighting, Killswitch Engage took the stage. 

Opening with This Fire, the audience moved to the stage with all their might. You were either in the moshpit, crowdsurfing to security or being pushed against the barrier. We had Jesse’s magical stage presence and Adam D’s hilarious one. Followed by a couple of songs from the Howard Jones era of Killswitch with songs such as Rose of Sharyn and End of Heartache, we all eyes were fixated on the stage with the heaviest and most beautiful melodic parts of Killswitch. In the beginning portion of the set, Jesse did not hesitate to jump off the stage and sing with the audience behind the barrier. The interaction at this show was at its fullest. The crowd was feeding off the band and the band was feeding off the crowd.

As the show progressed, the sound was getting way more diverse. With a song like Hate by Design, all hell broke lose in the pit, and with a slower song such as always, Tears rolled along with the disco ball high above the venue. In between Killswitch Engage demonstrating their different sounds, we get Adam’s incredibly hilarious stage banter in between songs. With saying things like “stop sucking that trucker dick” to Jesse when he said that he was a little under the weather, or of course being a band from Massachusetts, no show is complete without a “fuck you” to the Yankees. The fact that some laughed while a few middle fingers were thrown only further demonstrates the different reactions you can get at Killswitch Engage show. With that happening, you have Jesse, who already sings and writes lyrics that can relate to any listener, Jesse makes it a point of uniting us at a show. Before Hate by Design, we get “We are the United States of America, not The Divided States of America”. The friendship that was demonstrated at that show is some of the most powerful examples of unification. When someone fell down in the pit, immediately they were helped back up. There was not a single crowd surfer who didnt make it over the barrier that night. There are no strangers at a Killswitch Engage show, just friends we haven’t made yet. Crowd participation doesn’t end with moshing, crowdsurfing, laughs, tears and brotherhood. As mentioned before, vocalist Jesse Leach claimed he wasnt feeling well so he asked the crowd to sing a long as much as possible because his voice was “shot”, while the crowd sang their heart out, Jesse gave it his absolute all as well. Not a single note was off key, and his screams still cut through the hearts of many.

As the show moved on you got the perfect bridge of classic Killswitch Engage songs from Alive or Just Breathing and End of Heartache eras with songs such as Take this Oath, Vida Infra, My last Serenade and more, while bringing a handful of their newer songs such as Disarm the Descent and Incarnate with songs such as In Due Time, Always, No End in Sight and Strength of the Mind. Ending with their classic Dio cover of Holy Diver, everyone exited that venue with nothing but positive vibes.

Killswitch Engage is a band you are going to take seriously just by listening to them and seeing their ability to write songs, create lyrics that can relate to anyone whether they listen to them or not, amazing visual artwork created by bassist Mike D, and their ability to execute them live. While you can tell they poor their heart out in what they do, they execute this material live exactly how a show is supposed to be. It is fun and exciting and obviously we want to hear these songs live, but it is not just a live performance of a band executing their catalogue. They spawn the greatest pits for anyone to let out anger and aggression, play their more somber material that can let anyone feeling blue shed some tears, and if someone is having a good day (if your not your gonna leave having that) they have powerful anthems to celebrate with you. They are there to make you laugh, cry and of course enjoy life and escape reality for a bit. Even if you are just there to sit and watch a musical performance, you will be taken into their own emotional reality with their lights and sounds. 

A Killswitch Engage show is the shoulder you need to cry on, the chill pill you may need if your feeling anxious, the punching bag if you need to let off some steam (in the pit, not the band) and your trophy for your victories. 

Killswitch Engage announced their first album to come out this fall via Metalblade Records