Musical Style and Lyrical Themes
Killswitch Engage's genre is largely considered metalcore or melodic metalcore, combining elements of extreme metal and hardcore. Like many metalcore bands, Killswitch Engage incorporates both singing and screaming vocals in their music. In 2009, MTV, while naming "The Greatest Metal Bands of All Time" referred to Killswitch Engage as "one of the founders of metalcore". Jason D. Taylor of Allmusic said Alive or Just Breathing is "a pure metal album that seemingly has ignored any fashionable trend and instead relies solely on skill and expertise to sculpt some of the meatiest heavy metal since the glory days of Metallica and Slayer."
Both former vocalists Jesse Leach and Howard Jones write lyrics that are considered to be positive. Leach stated on (Set This) World Ablaze, that the lyrics contain "unity, positivity, love." On the lyrical themes of Killswitch Engage, Ultimate Guitar reviewer Amy Sciarretto notes:
" has come into his own since 2004's The End of Heartache, and he continues to hit the notes, wax about relationships, faith-issues and other relatable issue (sic) on this second self-titled effort."On Killswitch Engage's 2009 release, Howard Jones states the change in lyrical themes:
"I've got enough to draw on to write some stuff that can be dark. Maybe there's still a hint of positivity in it, but there are some songs on there that are not positive at all."Read more about this topic: Killswitch Engage
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