Reviews list for Killswitch Engage - This Consequence (2025)

Killswitch Engage are one of those rare old breed of bands that understand the importance of delayed gratification. They have never been a band that have forced an unnecessary number of albums out the door in order to maintain relevancy in the ever changing metalcore world. And as a result, whenever Killswitch Engage release a new album, it's always welcome with praise and admiration, even if it is just the band on autopilot.

This time around, the album This Consequence has a five year window since Atonement, which I reviewed back in the day. When I reviewed it, I thought it was okay, but far too predictable. Howard Jones making guest appearances was memorable, but couldn't hold the album back from mediocrity. This Consequence meanwhile has some modulation from the typical KSE (Killswitch Engage) formula. The songs "Aftermath" and "Forever Ahead" nicely compliment each other in the track order with warmer textures and more melodic singing. While "Collusion" and "The Fall of Us" coalesce into heavy overload; with "The Fall of Us" in particular beginning with a black metal adjacent riff, before returning to some stronger death metal riffs during the verses. 

It isn't all sunshine for KSE. I for one was very disappointed by the overall sound of this record. The compositions are good, but the engineering just holds back on so many fronts. The first, and most obvious one, is the underdeveloped the low end of the mix. "The Fall of Us" is a perfect example of a song that desperate needs that strong foundation, when the lead guitar is tremolo picking. While the rest of the mix is slightly better, its only because the rhythm guitar remains present during the choruses of "I Believe" and "Broken Glass". KSE really needs to bring back that booming foundation that was so present on The End of Heartache or As Daylight Dies.

All of this said, I do believe that This Consequence is the best KSE since the return of Jesse Leach. It sounds like KSE, but it also sounds developed and the progression of Killswitch Engage as being more than just THE melodic metalcore band. They have the potential to add more influence into their music and have it sound pretty good as well. If they could do that with better mixing, This Consequence would be fantastic. But it is still quite the solid piece of melodic metalcore in the 2020s.

Best Songs: Aftermath, Forever Ahead, Collusion, Broken Glass