I SUDDENLY FEEL A DESIRE TO GO TO CALIFORNIA METALFEST
The line-up for California Metalfest IV has been announced, and while there are a lot of great bands on the bill (The Dillinger Escape Plan, The Faceless, The Acacia Strain, Shadows Fall, etc.) and a lot of shitty bands on the bill (Asking Alexandria, Black Veil Brides, Winds of Plague, one of those skyline bands, etc.), the real news is that not only will Killswitch Engage be headlining, but they’ll be performing their seminal breakthrough album, Alive or Just Breathing, in its entirety. I was surprised to realize as I was typing this that AoJB is now ten years old (it really feels like it just came out a few months ago!), but the real impetus of this decision, obviously, is the return of original KsE vocalist Jesse Leach to the fold earlier this year.
I’d LOVE to see this album performed live from start to finish, for three reasons:
- It’s a great fucking record, period.
- There are some fantastic songs on there that the band doesn’t play live nearly enough.
- It could be an indication that the band are attempting to “get back to their roots,” so to speak, and cut it out with the seemingly endless array of “End of Heartache”-type songs the band has been releasing since, well, The End of Heartache. It was great the first time they did it; less so the tenth time they did it.
The festival will take place on November 24 in San Berdino, CA. Get more details here.
-AR
