Album Review: Atonement by Killswitch Engage

Over the course of 20 years, Killswitch Engage have undergone personnel changes and different labels and producers. They've developed as musicians and songwriters but have always remained themselves -- whether they want to or not. The band's ever-more refined songcraft is chock-full of songs about moving beyond limits, personal growth, and transcendence, but their sound has remained stubbornly close to the one they delivered on classics such as 2002's Alive or Just Breathing and 2004's The End of Heartache, two albums that defined metalcore as it emerged from the ruins of '90s-era nu-metal.

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With a roar and a melody, Killswitch Engage return with Atonement. Pre-release singles "Unleashed" and "I Am Broken Too" follow their usual formula of guitar and vocal-driven metalcore, but Killswitch Engage are proof that broke things don't need fixing.   There's a certain curse that comes with being a genre originator. What was once unprecedented and fresh can get buried under an avalanche of sound-alikes until we forget what made it great in the first place. Killswitch Engage have sidestepped this "trend trap" in the best way possible ….

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