
(Andy Synn is back with yet another of his five-item lists of favorite things.)
TheMadIsraeliâs review of the newest Killswitch album (which I still havenât actually gotten around to listening to) got me thinking, mostly about missed chances and wasted potential. As a fan of KsE, even I have to acknowledge that, due to a variety of factors, some beyond their control, some due to their own decision-making, the band may have squandered some of their early potential.
That may sound rather harsh; itâs not meant to be but it may sound it. But I think itâs unfortunately an accurate assessment of things as they stand. Losing Jesse, the stalling of their initial momentum while they recruited Howard, the more simplistic, mainstream leanings that sanitised their most recent work… all these combined with the general state of the music industry and some unfortunate timing, have meant that the band never reached the âmegastarâ status which was, however fleetingly, hinted at by their early potential.
Now I know what youâre thinking. Killswitch Engage are pretty damn mainstream, at least by metal standards, right? Well thatâs kind of my point… we often forget, we proud underground warriors, that for most bands, being part of the metal âmainstreamâ means fuck all to the âactualâ mainstream. Bands with legitimate underground cred who get the merest sniff of wider exposure are immediately attacked for âselling-outâ even when theyâve not changed a thing, they just happened to be in the right place at the right time.
But what Iâm talking about here are five bands who had the possibility, however slight, of achieving real recognition (mainstream or otherwise), real status, without sacrificing their integrity or identity, but for whom it never quite âhappenedâ. Continue reading »