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DARK SECRETS: Jesse leach - The Real Truth

"I went from touring to working behind a bar in Manhattan, busting my butt to pay bills." How one of metal's most beloved bands reunited with an old friend to get a much-needed new lease of life

These metalcore legends faced an uncertain future following the exit of their much-loved frontman, but all was not lost

Metal Hammer

"I really fought against that. It seems insane but back then, the idea of having screaming on the radio was an immediate no-go." How one classic millennial anthem brought some romance to the metal scene - and turned its makers into stars

One of the gretaest metalcore songs ever written turned this band into household names

Metal Hammer

"If I could go back in time and smack the **** out of younger me, I would. I didn't know how to ask for help." Killswitch Engage's Jesse Leach explains the turmoil behind one of metalcore's biggest anthems

Killswitch Engage's My Last Serenade might have sparked the 2000s metalcore boom, but there was a darkness behind the scenes

Metal Hammer

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Check out the 8 spectacular tracks lighting up our test rooms this month

Expect sonic fireworks this November

What Hi-Fi?

“The anthems are unloaded with the speed of a machine gun but the accuracy of a sniper”: What happened when Killswitch Engage brought one of the year’s biggest metal lineups to Wembley Arena

The venue may not be heaving, but Killswitch Engage, Hatebreed, Fit For An Autopsy and Decapitated still put on a night of top-to-bottom excellence

Metal Hammer

"To Carry The Weight might be one of the most gutwrenching songs that I’ve ever written." Killswitch Engage's Jesse Leach on buried projects, ska records and how he once met the cast of Friends

Killswitch Engage frontman Jesse Leach faces down Metal Hammer readers' questions

Metal Hammer

We asked this metal vocalist what Meat Loaf wouldn’t have done for love, and it turns out he actually knows the answer

Killswitch Engage’s Jesse Leach answers the question that’s bothered rock fans for more than 30 years

Metal Hammer

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"Partially responsible for hastening the demise of nu metal." We've ranked every Killswitch Engage album from worst to best

Reordering the catalogue of one of metalcore's greatest bands in reverse order of awesomeness

Metal Hammer

"That's legendary status right there." Watch Zakk Wylde, Trivium, Within Temptation, Ice-T, Lacuna Coil, Jesse Leach, Hanabie and more celebrate 400 issues of Metal Hammer

Hammer celebrates 400 issues with an all-star line-up of metal stars

Metal Hammer

"We’re the last ones standing from the scene." Employed To Serve are fostering the next generation of British metal talent

From starting their own label and running a PR firm to teaming up with Jesse Leach and Will Ramos, Employed To Serve represent the true spirit of DIY

Metal Hammer

These are the 12 new metal songs you need to check out this week

Linkin Park, Sleep Token, Ghost, Sabaton and more have spoiled us with excellent songs this week. Hear them all and vote for your favourite here.

Metal Hammer

“The lyrics just blew my mind. That song changed the way I write. I think Steven Wilson is really poetic”: Killswitch Engage’s Jesse Leach loves Porcupine Tree

Killswitch Engage vocalist Jesse Leach chooses his favourite Porcupine Tree song, and gives some love to Pink Floyd and Mikael Åkerfeldt

Metal Hammer

The best metal albums of 2025 (so far)

From Cradle of Filth to Whitechapel, Bloodywood to Spiritbox, these are some of the best metal releases of 2025 so far.

Metal Hammer

"My dad smashed the tape of Number Of The Beast: ‘I’m forbidding Devil’s music in my house!’ That only made it more appealing.” How Jesse Leach went from "Flanders kid" to future metalcore icon

How Jesse Leach went from preacher's son to metalcore icon with Killswitch Engage

Metal Hammer

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Metal Hammer

"The vocals make David Vincent sound like Sabrina Carpenter." This Consequence is the heaviest Killswitch Engage album in over a decade. And it absolutely slaps

Killswitch Engage go rawer and heavier than they have in some time, led by an impassioned Jesse Leach

Metal Hammer

Killswitch Engage fans! Grab the new issue of Metal Hammer with an exclusive cover and t-shirt, only through Louder

Buy the new Hammer with a Killswitch Engage-themed cover and shirt that you won’t find anywhere else

Metal Hammer

“I would hide out before the show, play the set, hide out after, not be sociable, not have fun, and that just started wearing thin on me”: Jesse Leach explains his 2002 Killswitch Engage exit

Jesse Leach opens up the mental health crisis that led to him leaving one of metalcore’s biggest bands

Metal Hammer

“Some of the people I thought were good were actually bad. I felt a lot of betrayal and uncertainty”: Killswitch Engage’s Jesse Leach explains the trauma and anger behind new album This Consequence

Jesse Leach tried to write “words of wisdom” for Killswitch Engage’s next album, but it ended up containing the angriest songs of their career

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Metal Hammer

New Killswitch Engage album is “angry, dark and aggressive” because that’s “what the world needs right now”, says Jesse Leach

“I think a lot of us can relate to frustration, anger, betrayal, all those things, and that’s kind of what I highlighted lyrically with this album”

Metal Hammer

Listen to the first Killswitch Engage song in five years, Forever Aligned

The metalcore mavens have also announced ninth album This Consequence, due next year

Metal Hammer

Watch Killswitch Engage reunite with ex-singer Howard Jones at emotional homecoming show in Massachusetts

Howard joined his old bandmates for the performance of three songs on Saturday night

Metal Hammer

“For a pissed-off, disillusioned teenager that hated the government, Banned In D.C. was the moment I found my tribe”: The 10 best Bad Brains songs according to Killswitch Engage’s Jesse Leach

Killswitch Engage singer and Bad Brains uber-fan Jesse Leach’s ultimate 10-track Bad Brain playlist

Metal Hammer

“It is by far the most difficult album I’ve ever worked on”: Killswitch Engage’s Jesse Leach gives update on long-awaited ninth record

Killswitch Engage’s vocalist has reflected on making the band’s first album in five years, saying he sees “the distant light at the end of this long tunnel”

Metal Hammer

The 11 most amazing onstage team-ups in heavy metal history

Metallica and Ozzy Osbourne. Trivium and Slipknot. The entire Big Four. These are the most excellent onstage collaborations we’ve ever seen.

Metal Hammer

"It was the right time and the right place, with the right words." How In Due Time and the return of Jesse Leach saved Killswitch Engage

With In Due Time, Killswitch not only produced a song that perfectly encapsulated the return of Jesse Leach, but a new anthem to get their careers back on track

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