Killswitch Engage on 20 Years of 'Alive or Just Breathing' | Jesse and Adam Look Back

With its stratospheric clean vocals, monstrous breakdowns and stadium-sized production, Killswitch Engage's 'Alive or Just Breathing' changed metalcore forever. In honor of their 2002 sophomore album turning 20, we had frontman Jesse Leach and guitarist-producer Adam Dutkiewicz reflect on that time period of the band, the writing/recording process, its impact on the scene, Leach's exit from Killswitch shortly after its release and much more.
Check out the interview above and let us know some of your favorite tracks off the album in the comments below!
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#killswitchengage #aliveorjustbreathing #mylastserenade #metalcore #metal #jesseleach #adamdutkiewicz #lifetolifeless #justbarelybreathing #videinfra #roadrunner

[@hockey4123]

One of the most influential and impactful metal albums ever. Things in the metal scene completely changed after this album. Bands are still trying to copy this style 20 years later.

[@sirwinchester2918]

Dude what? Many MANY bands were doing this shit long before this lol 😆 🤦‍♂️

[@hockey4123]

@@sirwinchester2918 I never once said in my comment, bands weren't doing this style before Killswitch, did I? Of course there were bands before, but those bands didn't have the impact and change the metal scene like Killswitch did with Alive or Just Breathing in 2002.

[@sirwinchester2918]

@@hockey4123 completely disagree

[@jbasti227]

@@sirwinchester2918 True but they’re right in that this record influenced WAY more bands to try replicating this sound after it dropped, along with records like Fall Of Ideals and Shadows Are Security

[@stoopidhaters]

20 years later? Clearly you haven't heard all the Architect clones that riddle the scene today.

[@goodkrypollo1706]

Adam D IS metalcore. He laid the framework for other metalcore bands to follow. He helped produce albums for As I lay Dying, All That Remains, Unearth, Devil Wears Prada etc. He can scream, sing, play instruments. Unreal.

[@timmyboy9140]

Dont forget Parkway Drive

[@mprior93]

And he always laughs deep from the gut, such a genuine cat. We need more people like these guys

[@goodkrypollo1706]

@@mprior93 The other thing is. He would deny all this and say he has no idea what we are talking about. He's humble as someone can get.

[@WEEKEND-AT-BURNIES]

@@timmyboy9140 Horizons is just so fuckin good

[@nolandavis2927]

Jesse Leech Metalcore Musician

[@sludgedisciple]

That album is Metalcore gold. Every song is good, every last one.

[@thomastrevino9017]

These guys have no idea how much of an impact they’ve had on our family 🤘🏽my last serenade has stuck with us through all of the years. My older brother used to tell me stories on how when that song would come on he would cry. 2007 Afghanistan. In 2018 he lost his life to PTSD. My last serenade has truly stuck with us. I later learned what he meant when I was on my own deployment many years later. Thank you kill-switch for this amazing song and album! You have no idea 🤘🏽

[@axmnstrbnd]

Truly sorry for the loss of your brother.

[@MW_1420]

Masterpiece album and best metal album of all time, in my opinion. Final scream on rise inside just changed me as a young teenager.

[@Boozer13]

This. Album. Changed. My. Life.

[@justinsayswtf]

I discovered Killswitch Engage when I was 15. I’m from New Orleans, and I was still displaced from my home when I found this band. Jesse’s positivity got me through that time. It was like the perfect storm of taking the anger and aggression I already was feeling as a hormonal teenager, combined with the chaos of my city being destroyed and living in a different city where I knew no one, and Killswitch Engage served as an outlet for all of that but with positive and self-empowering lyrics. They channeled the anger and negativity I was feeling into something positive, and I truly believe their music helped change my view of the world, which helped make me into the man I am today. Always and forever my favorite band.

[@RegurgiNate84]

Without a doubt my most favorite album of all time. Never gets old and never leaves the disc changer in my car. Jesse's rage, conviction, and righteousness on this and self titled will never be matched.

[@Bat_Dance]

20 years?! Weren’t we all just kids like..ten minutes ago?

[@ATreeFrogCollective]

Can't believe I have been jamming to killswitch for twenty years !

[@pleasuretokill]

Back then my favorite albums were Of One Blood, Alive or Just Breathing, Whoracle and Colony, Deathrace King. I got to see all of these bands live from 1999-2003. I miss those days

[@voidofhope6259]

Of One Blood is still so good

[@heelgill]

33:40 Never gets old when Adam mentions that, haha.

[@justinsayswtf]

Jesse gets so embarrassed every time haha

[@tomlaver6605]

So many lyrics in the album still stand today - Vide infra is such a good example

[@xkillsluisx]

Hands down, my fav record of all time! I've heard it a thousand times since then, and it led me to so many good things. Can't thank enough to these guys

[@thirteenstitches2713]

One of, if not my favorite album of any band ever. Very few albums can you listen song for song and every one be just as good as the last.

[@axmnstrbnd]

Amen to that!

[@thegreenman4925]

Great interview! Alive or Just Breathing is a great album, and still sounds fantastic today.

[@Shawner1000]

Legendary album!

[@ESU77]

I remember buying Alive or Just Breathing for the first time and reading up on the band and it's members. I would list to the songs and read along with the lyrics. At that time I really wasn't into music that had screaming and growls in it's. I did like metal and hard rock.I grew up listening to Metallica, Megadeth and Testament. Once I got the lyrics to your songs inside my head the more I liked it and the more I listened to it. This album was the music to my life at the time. I grew to love the music. Killswitch Engage Love your music. I finally got to see you guys live a few years ago. You guys are great.

[@axmnstrbnd]

I could write a small book about this album and how absolutely amazing it was/is. I don't even know where to begin.

[@passionateintrovert]

Very nostalgic album for me. Also very much a gateway into extreme metal. I remember listening to it a lot. One of those albums I thought didn’t have a bad song on it. I’m definitely wanting to revisit it now. Thanks for the interview! Adam and Jesse seem like very laid back and good guys!

[@fettfan91]

I’ll never forget my friend showing me these guys in high school, huge band!

[@andrewvanhalen1984]

On the first album, you can really hear their influences from Tampa death metal and Scandinavian melodic death metal come out. Alive or Just Breathing is when they came into their own and really established the metalcore formula.

[@bassimprovjams3772]

One of the baddest albums of ALLTIME!!! It’s just perfect!! My drummer was blessed enough to see the anniversary full album, would love to see this full album live!

[@godofdeadlydeath]

Love to see Edge of Sanity get their due these days. Crimson is a masterpiece but so is everything they released. Swano really is a genius.

[@adriancole9681]

Still listening to this album. Rules.

[@RevolutionDrummer47]

I love these guys. KsE really brought me into metal/metalcore. Fantastic band, great live shows.

[@BernhardBernard]

One of the top 5 metalcore albums for me to this day...

[@derekfletcher8934]

Temple From The Within has been a staple in dealing with my mental health for 20 fucking years. That whole album really. I used to have the ferret records demo with the rougher versions of most of Alive on that. And I remember B sides on various Roadrunner Compolations. Fuck I need to break out the cd collection and get the braincells working again! Thank you KSE

[@RegurgiNate84]

Yeah dude, always sets me right when starting to get down.

[@ghostzyden]

Best KSE album, I definitely miss those times it was listening to history well done sirs.

[@dwaynestjohn5324]

Love these guys. Great interview and what a great album. Probably my favorite album by them. Not a bad song on it.

[@maxwellfujs6124]

Awesome interview, thank you

[@j-dawg9893]

10/10 album

[@beantown702]

Really late to the KSE party, started listening early 2020. But saw them at Knotfest 2022 and got too drunk to remember lol. But saw them solo the best month, with Howard's band, and to see them perform with Howard was eo amazing. And they ended up playing Just Barely Breathing, and I lost my mind.

[@usererror5247]

Great interview!

[@deadbeatwilliam]

You guys got to do one on Chimaira , the impossibility of reason.

[@CroshVine]

It's gotta be Fixation. That was my first intro to metalcore, but the howard video. But then I listened to the whole album and loved ALL OF IT.

[@louisxD]

My favorite metalcore album. I loved this interview

[@melancholicacid471]

this album is like a wonderful contemplative spiritual journey for me.. i'm glad and happy i know it! thank you so much Killswitch Engage!!

[@jonathanarmstrong1756]

Great interview. AOJB will always be my fav killswitch album

[@Ardalan47]

Thank you revolver Every single words in this video make me excited as hell How relatable

[@Mr_A_Mia]

Excellent album! One of my favorites of all time for sure. Congratulations KSE!

[@Oggydog313]

The album that changed my life Forever!!

[@bobbyincidemetal]

I remember coming across live concert footage from AOJB on Kazaa back in 2002!!! It still blows me away. One of my favorite albums still.

[@christophergray7982]

I found them when Howard took the mic, and loved it, but when I went back and bought alive or just breathing I was blown away. Excellent masterpiece that I still go to for a perfect jam.

[@tonybrandvold9651]

The interviewer does a really good job here. And you could tell he's a genuine fan just by his reactions at times. Well done 👏

[@MiMenteOnLine]

20 years already. Damn! That's the album that got me into Metalcore, a genre that, to this day, is one of my favorites. Much love, all the way from Perú 🇵🇪, a country where they had never played live. I guess we just doesn't have that much metalcore fans over here.

[@MetalLee1234]

I think I bought this album 5 times due to wear. Such a fantastic album to this day!

[@Metalcoreleo]

Alive or Just Breathing still impacts my life. My favorite track would have to be Rise inside, Just Barley Breathing and Element of One.

[@Duct_Tape_Boyz]

Great album , great conversation , great band 🤘

[@Imps603]

This is one of the few albums I can absolutely sing all the lyrics to, by heart

[@itzTony93]

Disarm The Descent is my favorite album of all time from them, but I won't lie in saying that Rise Inside as a song is one of the best individual songs I've ever heard lol, its really hard for me to say which album is better I just know they're both equally great

[@NandoGilMetal]

AOJB and End of Heartache changed my life forever

[@QuincyKane]

Great interview! KSE has been such a huge influence on me as an artist!

[@joobie1000]

Brilliant album then and still a brilliant album today, I can play the entire album from start to finish and love every track on it

[@natas5061]

Still my favorite Killswitch engage album hand fooking down.i could feel the lyrics pulse through me.ill listen and fallow any music u guys put out for life.kse for life

[@voidofhope6259]

Who else remembers Aftershock? Adam and hs brothers band before KSE. Super dope stuff also

[@azarothshadowsoul]

I frigging love Aftershock 🖤🤘🎸

[@Ardalan47]

Jesse and Adam I LOVE YOU GUYS SO GODDAMN MUCH..!!❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@danno4235]

Good to see Only Living Witness get some love

[@adamsunderland0823]

Never gave kse the proper respect because they were so popular. Lots of great underground bands. But this album is truly a masterpiece.

[@rickyiglesias5384]

"Numbered Days" is the perfect opening track for that record. my fav song from the album. hands-down my favorite PART of the whole album is the "Tongues of fire whisper" part. just goosebumps.

[@Ardalan47]

My love for the gods of metalcore started just from "Arms raised Eyes gazed" Godly guitar riff❤❤❤

[@75robg]

Just Barely Breathing, is one of the greatest metalcore songs ever made.

[@PizzaNife]

Such a killer record! Need a reissue or something!!

[@craigitr0n]

I remember hearing about them on the Shoutweb forums sometime in 2001.. Alive or Just Breathing completely chnaged my trajectory in music and what i thought heavy nusic could be.. Adam and Joel were the teason i started playing guitar because i just HAD to know how to do that. Jesses lyrics resonated with me at the time.. cool to see his growth as a man.. i find him to be a very inspiring person.

[@sevatar5762]

Can’t believe this came out over 20 years ago. I was 16 and my family was flat broke. We would deliver supermarket leaflets for extra cash. Fond memories of listening to this record on my portable walkman delivering leaflets in the rain.

[@broondjongen]

AOJB was the album that brought metalcore to the spotlight

[@markw.loughton6786]

Absolutely love "Killswitch" Awesome guys, Awesome music, awesome live.

[@craigpatrick1]

I bought the CD the day it came out after hearing the Roadrunner demos! I knew music was gonna change after hearing it for the first time! Can we get a vinyl reissue for the anniversary……Please 😊

[@SonOfManMusic]

nice. Happy 20th to Alive or Just Breathing.

[@joey_morg]

I STILL cant believe ALIVE OR JUST BREATHING is 20 years old already! I remember the exact day it came out and that morning i was hanging out skating in the parking lot of the mall waiting for it to open so i can get one of the first copies on CD at FYE! Yes kids i said "CD".....there were basically no sites back then to download it but if you did come across one you were stealing if you did downloa it. Anyways, this album literally changed my life ifor the better nstantly!

[@wheelsofmercury]

I didn't get into the album until after I heard Times of Grace back in 2011, but when it clicked for me, it freaking CLICKED. Had a 10th Anniversary shirt for this album when I was a teenager (which I have since sold). I may not listen to KsE that much anymore, but I have to respect them for creating this album, even if I actually heard Howard first.

[@Ardalan47]

My emotions are being released crazilyy My goodness these guys really did saved me from suicide by their positive lyrics and Even those sweet riffs...

[@JarrodMannDrums]

This record changed my life🤘🤘

[@shredenvain7]

I saw Killswitch a couple of shows in to the tour for the 1st album. It was at some club in Birmingham Al with Hypocrisy, Soilwork and a local death metal band called Spinecast. I went to the show just for Killswitch though. I had heard a demo track of theirs on the Roadrunner website and bought the album the day it came out. It was a great lineup and a great show. I had no clue these dudes would blow up like they did.

[@JSp4wN]

Kse and slipknot were life changing bands for me. Thanks boys for all the killer metal!

[@Macho_Man_Randy_Savage]

I fucking love KSE, all the lineups, just going thru their discography...again lol. To me everything they put out is amazing...yes, even the 2009 one. It's just good to hear a band still staying true to their original sound all these years later.

[@lancetamama3674]

my favorite album of killswitch engage

[@omarcomin2261]

Adam fashionably on-brand.

[@aaronssportsshow5289]

Love this album

[@dazzfreeman7294]

THE TIME APPROACHESSSSSSS

[@krisleonesio7919]

I remember...it mustve been summer 02 ...was on a trip to santacruz area with family and i would always look upwhere the record stores were in the area...so we went and saw AOJB and never knew of KSE and my brother said "dude get that! That names sic!" And the rest is history!

[@The_JustJoshing]

Best Metalcore album ever

[@HaruSkage]

29:38 Cali Metalfest 2012, I believe that was the first date of the tour and I have shirt to remember it. That was the first time they played Rise Inside... maybe the first they played Just Barely Breathing?

[@danreedy9061]

Im spewing they low ragging their album. Its fuckin incredible. Riffs? On. Lyrics? On. This album and SymphonyX V. Always be my go to, even today

[@seanpurdom6380]

AOJB changed my whole life, man. Straight up. And it's still one of my top 5 all time favorite albums. And it's still so untouchable after all these years. It was so different for it's time. I can't believe it's been 20 years. How insane. That album was just so flawless. And I'll admit, when Howard took over on vocal duties, I didn't like it at first because it was reflective on the new vocals and new direction. The End if Heartache was such a massive, amazing album. And once again, it changed many people's perspective on rock/metal. But, for me, it doesn't get any better than AOJB.

[@brianstout7350]

Still my favorite album of all time

[@patrickmoore1068]

Jesse gives a shout out to Burnt By The Sun! Criminally underappreciated band.

[@ekojar3047]

Life to Lifeless will always be a great song. Make some new stuff that is that same dream but a different night that was captured in that same bottle long before.

[@jazzyj4126]

A fucking masterpiece

[@GazuNeveS]

Shout out to Adam for holding that phone for 40 minutes

[@ChaseArkansas]

still my favorite killswitch album.

[@AxLWake]

I love Killswitch Engage and I love Alive or just Breathing but the interviewer talks about that record like it's the first metalcore album with very melodic vocals blended with really agressive ones. That is not true at all. Yes, it was influential as it kind of set a tone that many bands tried to emulate for years after the release but man, there are quite a few bands that did it first. As a dude from Belgium I want to name Length of Time as an exemple but they are not the only ones, obviously. (Length of Time's second full length album, How Good The World Could Be Again, came out in 2000...)

[@TheIbanez21601]

This album is a 10

[@joseantoniodominguezperez5720]

Uno de los mejores discos de la historia

[@jamiedolan5601]

Seen these guys in ‘07, at Ozzfest in Pittsburgh. Sadly, Jesse wasn’t with them then. I can say, of all the bands I’ve seen. Howard Jones, hands down the best live vocalist I’ve ever seen. Adam running around the stage wearing a cape, and super short shorts lmfao. Also, I got Alive or Just Breathing after it came out. Completely changed my view of metal, I was 14 then. What a great time to be a metalhead!!!

[@pakoj68]

KSE was not on Ozzfest 2007 though they were on 2005 and 2003.

[@MikeysMorgue]

Killer album! It sucks that they don't play anything off of their second self titled album. They pretend it doesn't exists.

[@DemonizedAlucard]

I liked it

[@heelgill]

They do play Reckoning every now and then.

[@chrissmith000]

wish they'd do Save Me

[@GeorgeZimmermen]

That’s because it’s their worst record. It grew on me a bit, but I remember buying it being so pumped, especially after daylight dies and being completely underwhelmed. If you listen to what Adam says about the making if that record, it makes sense

[@NandoGilMetal]

They just came to Columbus 2 months ago and played The Reckoning. Best show I’ve been to, Howard joined them for a couple songs too

[@chriskeiser5809]

“Shoulda shit in a box and sent it back to him, the son of a bitch” ahahahaha, Adam is the fuckin best

[@chrissmith000]

I don't wanna eat at fuckin Denny's lmao

[@pmartinez358]

I NEEED ANOTHER PRESSING!!!

[@Ardalan47]

15:46 Yeaaaaaahhhhh