As some of you know, a while back Killswitch Engage split with their second vocalist, Howard Jones. The split was fairly amicable, by all accounts, and the band moved on to recruit their first singer, Jesse Leach (Times of Grace), back into the fold of KSE. Now, after hearing nothing from Mr. Jones, we have a brand new band with a familiar face throwing some aggression at our listening holes: Devil You Know.
*Before we go further, I am simply stating opinion on two similar bands. Why? BECAUSE NOBODY ASKED ME.*

Now, to all intents and purposes, these two bands are in the same genre, what we shall just call basic Metalcore. They have a similar sound and songwriting base, as both of them shared the same vocalist, KSE for 9 years and ground up for DYK, and Howard had a pretty similar style with Jesse for delivery and ability. Both are extremely aggressive when they wish to be, and had amazing clear pipes when they wished as well. Both very talented frontmen. And this is where they really both end for similar stuff.

With DYK being a new band, they have some stuff to nail down for themselves. They have great production, sound good for the part, but the new album, The Beauty of Destruction, just doesn’t grab me like his albums with KSE. they hit all the right notes, but in the same way a copy machine can copy a master painting. Yeah, it looks the same, but lacks everything of depth. And it’s not a bad album at all. I am of the opinion that this band has all the potential in the world, but SOMETHING is missing. If you compare The Beauty… to the new KSE, Disarm the Descent (2013), just blows it away. Again, all opinion. Disarm… just has all that depth within it, with songs like Hell in Me that just absolutely grab my attention, and evoke emotion and want within the song. I feel a pain that I haven’t had since I learned girls were creatures of wrath and complexity in High School. It touches something that DYK just doesn’t, right now. I can see the scaffolding and an outline, but I have no detail, nothing keep my attention focused on what they are trying to lay down.

It may just be the subjective angle of human preference, and I am very excited to see that Howard has gotten back into the game; Jesse Leach is also a very welcome addition to the roster with KSE. I am excited for what the future holds for these two bands, as well as watching them on the upcoming date for the FMX Big Purple Party in Lubbock, TX on 5/24! The future will soon tell what we can expect from the veterans and the new kid.

Disarm the Descent (Deluxe)

The Beauty of Destruction

Both albums are available on iTunes (KSE Deluxe, Regular/DYK album), Amazon (KSE Deluxe, Regular/DYK), and anywhere else music is sold or downloaded!