Metal Hammer has teamed with Killswitch Engage for an exclusive bundle, celebrating the release of the metalcore greats’ new album This Consequence.
Only through the Louder webstore, you can get your hands on a variant of the latest issue of Hammer that features Killswitch on the cover. The magazine also comes with a t-shirt you can’t buy anywhere else and has a comprehensive interview with frontman Jesse Leach inside. Buy yours now while stocks last.
Inside, Leach talks openly about growing up in a religious household, the rise of Killswitch, his sudden 2002 exit, and his return to the band 10 years later.
Getting candid about why he left the band via email, with Howard Jones quickly taking his place, he says: “Back then, I was a very insecure, social anxiety-ridden kid, who didn’t have a total handle on my art. I started to get depressed. My anxiety was crippling me.
“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. I felt very alone, I was having a rough time with my voice and my mental health. I became pretty much suicidal. I had the wherewithal at least to bail and get out of there.”
He goes on to talk about how now balances his mental health with his position singing in a prominent metal band. “You learn how to live with it,” he explains. “You exercise certain techniques and thought patterns, and there’s so many things you can do to sort of live with mental disorders. If I’m going through a bout of depression, I can write some pretty intense stuff.”
The new Hammer also comes with an in-depth review of This Consequence, which comes out on Friday (February 21) and marks Killswitch’s first album since Atonement came out six years ago. Journalist Stephen Hill offers a glowing eight-out-of-10 write-up, saying, “This Consequence sees [Killswitch] roaring back to classic form, possibly even heavier, just as emotionally raw, and still leaders of the metalcore pack.”
Read the full review and the complete interview in the new issue, which also contains a conversation with Spiritbox about new album Tsunami Sea, the story of Limp Bizkit’s “Durstnaissance”, a report on the day we spent gardening with Wardruna, and much more. Buy it, with that exclusive Killswitch cover and shirt, through the Louder store and get it delivered directly to your door.
