Secondo il parere di chi scrive, i Killswitch Engage detengono un primato del tutto particolare nella scena Metal moderna: quello di essere riusciti a perdere ogni briciolo di credibilità fino a sputtanarsi (quasi) completamente in appena un decennio. E, distratti forse dall'ultima, imbarazzante uscita del combo del Massachussets, molti si sono dimenticati che se ci capita di cadere è proprio perché siamo riusciti ad arrivare davvero in alto: correva l'anno 2002, e i nostri, usciti da un primo disco di buona fattura chiamato semplicemente "Killswitch Engage", ripiombano sul mercato con quello che a parere di chi scrive è il loro più grande capolavoro, "Alive Or Just Breathing".
Viscerale e poetico fin dal bellissimo titolo, il disco in questione fu un vero e proprio fulmine a ciel sereno per l'allora stagnante panorama Rock\Metal, proponendo un sound del tutto nuovo ma così già ben definito da diventare all'istante un vero e proprio punto di riferimento per un intero genere: mazzate come "To The Sons of Man", "Vide Infra", "Just Barely Breathing" o "Numbered Days" impressionano ancora oggi per la loro intensità e così lo stesso per gli episodi più melodici come "The Element of One" o la strumentale "Without A Name", tra le migliori canzoni in assoluto dell'intero repertorio della band, per non parlare di quelli che sono poi diventati veri e propri classici, tra cui le monumentali "Fixations On The Darkness", "Temple From The Within", "Life to Lifeless", la super-melodica "My Last Serenade" e l'indescrivibile "Rise Inside".
E nonostante a livello musicale il gruppo sarà in grado di riproporsi a livelli più o meno simili nel corso degli anni successivi (eccezionale il comeback con "The End of The Heartache", buono il recente "As Daylight Dies"), ciò che indiscutibilmente mancherà alla formazione dopo la pubblicazione di questo album è forse la cosa più importante: l'anima. Perché i veri Killswitch erano sopratutto nella mente e nel cuore di un solo uomo, ossia quel Jesse Leech così poco rimpianto ai tempi della sua dipartita e che tutti oggi rivorrebbero al posto del pur bravo Howard Jones; era lui il vero "ingrediente segreto", era lui il vero catalizzatore dell'intera band, era lui che si celava dietro a così tante emozioni. Perché la dura verità è che canzoni come "Reckoning" o "My Curse" non hanno neanche un decimo della potenzialità dei pezzi contenuti in quest'album, la dura verità è che "The End Of the Heartache" sembra una stupida canzone d'amore paragonata alla catartica violenza di pezzi come "Numbered Days", la dura verità è che non basta interpretare bene classici quali "Holy Diver" per farci dimenticare la bellezza di canzoni come "The Element Of One" e non sentirne la mancanza.
Il miglior disco Metalcore di sempre?
Elenco tracce testi e samples
01 Numbered Days (03:35)
This is the voice of the voiceless
We have learned by making choices
After persecution and delusion
We have severed this illusion
We will build this foundation
On natural elements to preserve life
We will rise against Babylon.
The time approaches
Fall
Chanting inspiration
For the righteous dislocation
From the social order.
Kingdoms will rise to power
But kingdoms fall to dust
Fall, fall.
The ashes of the dead
Will be a sign
The time approaches.
Arms raised, eyes gaze,
Tongues of fire whisper
This life will soon slip away.
Babylon you will fall
Your days are numbered.
Who will hear your cries as you fall?
Fall, fall, fall.
02 Self Revolution (03:08)
I can't comprehend society's movement
The regression of human existence
This is the quest of life
Fulfill your destiny
Slow down the fast paced world
And you will see past the illusion
Breaking the foundation
Collapse the control
Building a revolution to heal nations
It starts within you
In this search for I and I the truth is always deep inside
(Reversal of oneself finding the truth)
This is the quest of life
We must find the strength for a new movement
Slow down this fast paced world and you will see the revolution
For a new movement
03 Fixation on the Darkness (03:38)
Fixation on the darkness that engulfs this world
Drain the life force of our people, change
Fixation on the darkness that engulfs this world
Drain the life force of our people
Return to the womb, new life
Lay your head to rest, mercy
To give you a peace of mind, lay your head to rest
Come together inside, this body is only a shell
Change, the only way we will survive
Light transfiguration of the soul, of the soul, of the mind
Fixation on the darkness that engulfs this world
Drain the life force of our people
Return to the womb, new life
Lay your head to rest, mercy
To give you a peace of mind, lay your head to rest
Tell them they will not hold us down, it's time for change
It's time for change, change
It's time for change, they will not hold us down, they will not hold us down
It's time for change, it's time for change
04 My Last Serenade (04:13)
This revelation is the death of ignorance
Tangled in a state of suffocation
Slave to self righteousness
Damnation is on your lips
From sorrow to serenity, the truth is absolution
From sorrow to serenity, it's on your head
This is my last serenade
I feel you as you fall away
This is my last serenade
From yourself you can't run away
It's your choice, point the finger
But it's on your head
Your destination is a choice within yourself
Will you rise or become a slave
To self righteousness
Open up your heart and gaze within
07 To the Sons of Man (01:58)
You, son of man, I am here as a witness
You, son of man, can't you see what burns inside me?
This fire will consume as the flames purify
With the peace that passes understanding, this is my outcry
From dust to dust we will return
The flesh is temporary, the soul is eternal
I am here as a witness, can't you see this fire purifies
This fire will consume (this fire will consume)
As the flames purify (as the flames purify)
Son of man, can't you see?
Son of man, you can't save yourself
08 Temple from the Within (04:04)
Make me feel serenity when all is revealed
so easy to look back in life
and question but I must seek the strength
to push forward
I want to see what's so beautiful inside
as we drink of life
absolve me through your suffering
teach me to inscribe
these words upon my heart
cover me with the shadow of your hand
I will not lose myself in everything that tears me down
because you stand by me
no one to blame for my transgressions
no one to blame but myself
10 Vide Infra (03:28)
I have opened my eyes to see
The world that surrounds me, daily
I refuse to be led by the majority
Can't compromise I and I
To pass judgement
Judgement will be
Passed upon you
I will stand up for who I am never moved
Never moved by condemnation
No one is placed higher than another
No matter race or creed or gender
We must teach forgiveness and compassion
For who we are
Through understanding of our differences
We will find respect for one another
Because we are all flesh and blood
No one is placed higher than another
No matter race or creed or gender
We must teach forgiveness and compassion
For who we are
I am not afraid to speak my mind
No matter the consequences
Stay true to yourself
Through the humble eyes of a child
We will realize true equality
They cannot take me from me
They cannot take you from you
They cannot take I from I
They cannot take I from I
They cannot take me from me
They cannot take you from you
They cannot take I from I
13 In the Unblind (02:50)
Separation from the faceless majority step on the outside
Look on the inside tear tear it apart, A prisoner only in your own mind
Individuality will bring you life time to rise above to freedom
So much love lost, What have we become rise against the oppresion,
Resist and question burn the system kill the system kill the mindstate
Of indifference step into the unblind reclaim your life
Carico i commenti... con calma
Altre recensioni
Di open mind
Trash-death metal melodico mescolato con l'hardcore americano in maniera sopraffina.
Questo è un grande album intriso di rabbia e ferocia ma allo stesso tempo tristezza e rassegnazione... ha due facce...
