The year was 2001, and the band, Killswitch Engage, a little known American outfit making waves on their debut tour of the UK. ‘My Last Serenade’ was ripping up clubs the length and breadth of the nation. I went to see them, looking forward to meeting the man with the blood curdling vocals…..

It never happened.

Jesse Leech had been forced to leave the band due to illness, his replacement was without doubt a fine addition, and KSE have gone on to bigger and better things since… I digress.

It’s been almost a decade since that voice has been heard on a full length album, and almost just as long since any one has even heard of the guy… until now. Allow me to introduce, ‘The Empire Shall Fall’ featuring Leach on vox, backed by guitarists Jake Davenport and Marcus de Lisle, bassist Nick Sollecito, and drummer Jeff Pitt. This band is looking set to offer a new take on an ageing metalcore scene. ‘Awaken’ takes down the established barricade, a melodic intro leads through to a pounder of a breakdown riff, the guitars are fast, the drumming chaotic, the similarities to the rest are there, it could be another KSE track, or A7X, even 5 Finger Death punch….they are all beginning to sound the same to me….but this has something these others don’t - an indescribable energy - maybe it’s experience, history, or maybe it’s just pure talent and class, but this is how it should be done.

‘Lords of War’ reloads the barrels and fires them off again, there are no intros here, it starts heavy, it stays heavy and, if you’re still alive by the end of it, it ends heavy. Even featuring an outstanding, almost blues-esque guitar solo demonstrating an unbridled virtuosity and talent. ‘Voices Forming Weapons’, ‘Choir Of Angels’, and ‘We The People’ occupies the normally boring middle of a record without even a hint of a let up to the rampant sonic turmoil.

‘These Colours Bleed’ is for me the standout anthem, a clear live opener, fast paced, and with just about enough time at the beginning to choreograph a more than ample circle pit. This record only has eight tracks, but if you can make it to the end of album closer. ‘The Kingdom’, without having either a) smashed something or b) someone, then one can only presume you are in possession of the kind of restraint only Taoist monks possess.

OK, the format isn’t original, and yes it sounds like something we’ve all heard many times before, but without all the shoddy elements that have made this style so boring; this is metalcore that grabs, grips, holds, and destroys; and makes you want to get up and do it all again, this is The Empire Shall Fall.

Release Date 21st June 2010 On Angelside

www.myspace.com/theempireshallfall

By Adrien Perrie