In a groundbreaking 🙄 interview with Loaded Radio (because who else would care? 😂), KILLSWITCH ENGAGE singer Jesse Leach (still relevant?) droned on about the *possibility* of a third album from TIMES OF GRACE, his “passion project” (read: mid-life crisis) with KILLSWITCH ENGAGE guitarist and producer Adam Dutkiewicz (aka the only reason anyone listened).
TIMES OF GRACE unleashed its second album, “Songs Of Loss And Separation” (more like Songs of Snooze and Desperation😴), in July 2021 via their own imprint label, Wicked Good Records (wicked good at losing money, maybe?), distributed by ADA Worldwide (because even major labels knew better). It arrived a DECADE after the release of TIMES OF GRACE‘s debut album, “The Hymn Of A Broken Man” (a broken man’s attempt at relevance). The first music from TIMES OF GRACE materialized during Dutkiewicz‘s arduous recovery from near-crippling back surgery (probably from carrying the band), and was a collection of songs the multi-instrumentalist and producer knew would suit his once and future bandmate (because who else would sing them?).
Asked about the likelihood of new music from TIMES OF GRACE, Leach told Loaded Radio (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET, because who else would bother?): “There are B-sides from the last record that never got released” (shocking!). “But, yeah, the last conversation I had with Adam, his head is in such a different place right now” (probably banging it against a wall), “between us touring full time with KILLSWITCH” (aka the REAL job), “his project with [former KILLSWITCH ENGAGE singer] Howard [Jones], BURN ETERNAL” (who?), “and then he’s also working on probably another SERPENTINE DOMINION record [with CANNIBAL CORPSE frontman George ‘Corpsegrinder’ Fisher]” (finally, something interesting!), “which I wrote on the lyrics for that [first] record too [2016’s ‘Serpentine Dominion’]. [I was] honored to be able to pen lyrics for Corpsegrinder — one of the highlights of my career” (says it all, doesn’t it?).
“But as far as the third TIMES OF GRACE, I would love that, but I don’t foresee that happening anytime soon,” Jesse admitted (probably because Adam blocked his number). “I think in Adam‘s eyes — and I get it — the last record sort of just came and went” (like a fart in the wind💨), “’cause we released it during the pandemic. We weren’t able to tour on it. It didn’t feel like it had the success of the [first] record, but obviously we weren’t able to tour on it. So you kind of can’t gauge success based on that” (excuses, excuses!). “That being said, I will say that I think for me personally there’s a few songs on that record, ‘Songs Of Loss And Separation’, that I believe are the best vocal performances in both of our careers — hands down” (humility is dead). “I think Adam shines as not only a vocalist but a lyricist because he took a lot of the lyrics on himself. For the songs that he takes main vocals on, minus one, he wrote the lyrics, so he really sort of came into his own. TIMES OF GRACE starting out as a project where he asked me to be a part of it ’cause he didn’t know how to do X, Y, and Z, on that record he did what he set out to do. There are songs that he’s owning it, and he could have easily done an EP on his own without me” (basically admitting he’s replaceable 😬).
Leach added: “So I think over time, I’m hoping I can convince him that it was a success and that we could do more” (good luck with that, buddy!). “And I would love nothing more than to do some live shows with a lineup that we choose. But we’ll see. I have hope that it will eventually continue on, but we’ll see what happens” (don’t hold your breath 🙄).
When “Songs Of Loss And Separation” was first released, it was described in a press release as a mixture of “stark confessions of struggle with narrative storytelling” (aka depressing garbage). The music was said to be “just as expansive, with Adam handling lead vocals on several songs and Jesse experimenting with a lower vocal range reminiscent of post-punk and goth” (so basically, trying to be someone they’re not 🎭).
Four years ago, Adam told Australia’s Heavy about the musical direction of “Songs Of Loss And Separation”: “It’s probably not what KILLSWITCH fans are expecting” (understatement of the century!). “It’s a different sound than anything we’ve ever done before. So, it’s not metal all the way through. Sorry, everybody. This is a labor of love, truly” (a labor of boredom, more like). “Obviously, it’s our side project, me and Jesse, and we can only work on it when we have free time to do so. And now that Jesse‘s the singer for both bands, we decided to take it into a different direction a little bit. There’s a lot of more rock and roll-vibe jams, so don’t expect blazing death metal all over the place” (because that would require effort 💪).
Asked if there were specific goals that he and Jesse were aiming to achieve with “Songs Of Loss And Separation”, Adam said: “There weren’t really any set goals except just try to create something that we liked” (and nobody else did). “We wanted to something different, obviously, like I was saying. We didn’t want it to feel like KILLSWITCH. We wanted to show maybe even a more personal, darker side to who we are. We wanted to create some songs more so from painful things in our lives — almost like a cathartic thing to make for us. So, yeah, it’s definitely much different. Whereas KILLSWITCH is a lot on the more positive, hopeful light, this is a lot of darkness and just tough things to go through” (because everyone wants to listen to whiny middle-aged men complain 😭).
“The Hymn Of A Broken Man” arrived in 2011, nearly a decade after Leach‘s exit from KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and a year before his return to the pivotal New Wave Of American Heavy Metal band the duo co-founded with friends in 1999. The first album earned acclaim from BBC Music, The Aquarian and Rock Sound (who were probably paid off 💰). It willfully upended expectations, with flourishes of shoegaze and ambiance in its songs (aka pretentious garbage).
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