Alex Distefano talks to Guitarist Adam Dutkiewitz

Fresh off their recent West Coast Tour with Kittie and Shadows Fall, Killswitch Engage lead a very busy schedule. Guitarist Adam Dutkiewitz took time to talk about the bands new tour plans, their new singer and the band's one of a kind heavy sound.

"The tour with Kittie has been great so far! The crowds really have been receptive, and it's been awesome," said Dutkiewitz in a low-key voice.

The band recently parted ways with their singer Jesse Leach and recruited Howard Jones as his replacement. "I'm anxious for us to play more shows with Howard, he is awesome and I believe in him. Eventually I would like to record an album with him as well to show people what he's got," said Dutkiewitz. "Our old singer had vocal problems, his lymph nodes would get swollen after several days, which caused lots of problems. We were forced to cancel many shows. Plus he was recently married and his heart was not set to live the life on tour. When the decision came for him to leave, we all took it bad, but now we look back on it as a good decision for us all, we wish him the best," said Dutkiewitz in an optimistic voice.

Many have tried to classify KillSwitch Engage's sound, but with one listen to their debut album, 'Alive or Just Breathing' the band refuses to stick to just one genre of metal. They incorporate elements of European style classic Metal, Hardcore, and even Death Metal. "When we write songs, it just comes out that way, we don't try to hard to make every song fit into a formula, and we don't care what people think or how they try to label us. WE just love making heavy music," Dutikiewitz said boldly. The band is influenced of course by modern metal bands, but Dutikiewitz says that bands such as In Flames, Slayer, and Swedish metal bands such as the Haunted, the Crown and AT the Gates are among favorites. The band also listens to all kinds of metal, as well as other genres of metal such as hardcore and what some call metalcore, a mixture of both genres.

One band Dutkiewitz mentions and gives props to is Poison the Well. "We played a few shows on this tour with Kittie with those guys they are awesome! It's refreshing for something different out there to come onto the scene," he commented. "We would love to tour with the almighty Slayer, but this upcoming tour with In Flames would be awesome they area just the ultimate metal band!" Dutiekiwitz said. For a band as diverse as Killswitch engage, it is no suprise they have been on tour with everyone from Glassjaw to even Hypocrisy. "WE love being on tour, and playing shows," said Dutiekwitz with a smile. We just want to thank all of our fans out there who have been there for us and supported us, and all those who will support us, we can't wait to get out there and play more shows with Howard, it should be fun." Dutiekwitz to wrap things up.

Be sure to catch Killswitch Engage with In Flames and Sentenced, Sept. 17 at the Glass House in Pomona for a killer Live metal show that will blow your mind.