Killswitch Engage Announce Mixer of New Album

Killswitch Engage’s new album is an important one for the band. Even their most staunch supporters felt like things were starting to get creatively stale with 2009’s self-titled album. Furthermore, the album will mark a reunion with original vocalist Jesse Leach, who, in a very odd way, has some big shoes to fill, seeing as the band actually became far more famous with his replacement, Howard Jones.

So I consider this a good sign: the album will be mixed by the legendary Andy Sneap. Sneap previously mixed the band’s breakthrough (and, I think most of us can agree, best) releases, Alive or Just Breathing and The End of Heartache, but didn’t work on the band’s subsequent albums, which guitarist/producer Adam Dutkiewicz mixed himself. Dutkiewicz also mixed Times of Grace’s debut, The Hymn of a Broken Man, which I thought was a good album marred by a sound that was ultimately too-glossy. I know that Adam D. was never exactly Kurt Ballou, but those two classic KsE albums do sound a helluva lot more raw than anything they’ve made since. I’m hoping Sneap’s involvement means they’re attempting to make a return to that kind of sound, even as, fingers crossed, they attempt to expand their horizons in the songwriting department.

The album should be out early next year on Roadrunner.