Killswitch Engage’s Jesse Leach: why I love Angel Dust by Faith No More

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“It changed everything for people of my generation”: Jesse Leach salutes Faith No More’s iconic 1992 album Angel Dust

(Image credit: Jesse Leach: Justin Borucki/London Records)

Jesse Leach was in his early teens when he heard Faith No More’s genre-shattering fourth album Angel Dust. Here, the Killswitch Engage singer looks back on one of the most iconic - and challenging – albums of the early 90s.

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“Angel Dust is still one of the most diverse metal/rock records you’ll ever hear. It pushed the boundaries of what you can do with a voice. Mike Patton had done it on previous records of course, but that’s the one that offered so much creativity to how a song could be written and what you could do with a voice.

“I first heard it when I was just into High School. I just couldn’t get enough – I memorised all the lyrics, used to sing it with my friends. It changed my life and the way I saw music – it made me excited to try new things as a musician. As a hardcore punk all I did was scream, but this is the first band that made me want to sing, and figure out how I was gonna do that.

“It changed everything – especially for people of my generation. If you drop Mike Patton’s name to any musician, it doesn’t matter if they’re a fan or not, they just have to respect the man, and that’s all due to Angel Dust. You get the Mr. Bungle fans of course, but to me it doesn’t touch Angel Dust – it’s by far their superior work instrumentally and vocally.”

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Jesse Leach