ADAM DUTKIEWICZ Already Has Enough Material For Second BURN ETERNAL Album

In a new interview with Jai "Jaimunji" Setright of Metal On Tap, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz spoke about BURN ETERNAL, his new project featuring former KILLSWITCH ENGAGE singer Howard Jones, which will release its self-titled debut album on February 26, 2027 via Metal Blade. Adam said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's old news to me [at this point]. This record's been done for, like, four years. There was a lot of hang-ups with this one. But I'm glad it's finally coming out. I've already got enough material for another record, too. So Howard's got the material. When he writes the lyrics, we'll start working on it together."

Asked if it's mainly Howard who has written the lyrics and vocal melodies for BURN ETERNAL's first LP, Adam said: "We were collaborative a little bit on some of the parts. But, yeah, it's mostly Howard. He would do demos on his own with a friend of his over in Connecticut. And then some of the demos he gave me were great, and we just flew with it and didn't have to do anything. But the producer in me, if something doesn't feel right in some spots, like, 'Hey, let's think about maybe trying to rewrite this section,' or, 'This chorus could feel stronger here. Let's, like, rewrite this part,' blah, blah. But, yeah, for the most part it's, it's Howard, yeah."

Reflecting on the songwriting process for "Burn Eternal", Adam said: "I wrote all those songs during the pandemic. So think about how long ago that was. I did it out of just trying to keep myself sane. I'm sure we were all going through crazy shit during all that. And one day I was just hanging out with Howard — maybe we bumped into him on a tour or something — and he just brought up, like, 'Hey, you got any songs for me to sing over?' And I'm, like, 'You want me to give you songs?' I'm, like, 'Sure, that sounds like fun.' And then I gave him all the songs I had lying around, and here we are."

Dutkiewicz went on to say that he feels "so bad" that fans have had to wait so long to get the first taste of BURN ETERNAL's music. "I've been wanting to share the project with people for years, and there's been all these hang-ups," he explained. "So it's almost a bit bitter for me. But I'm glad it's coming out, and I'm glad I'm still working on material with Howard, 'cause I just love working with Howard. Howard's such a great friend. Making music with your friends is a good time."

BURN ETERNAL's debut single, "Wounds I've Made", was made available on November 5. The official lyric video for the track can be seen below.

Establishing the blueprint in New England's burgeoning underground — Jones with BLOOD HAS BEEN SHED and Dutkiewicz with AFTERSHOCK and then the legendary KILLSWITCH ENGAGE — the two would go on to join forces and play key roles in what would become seminal KILLSWITCH ENGAGE years between 2002 and 2012. Their contributions to the scene — both together and apart — are undeniable. During the Jones fronted-era of KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, the duo had amassed an impressive resume of awards and accolades together, including the band's first of several Grammy nods for "The End Of Heartache", which also won best album at the 2004 Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards, as well as the 2006 platinum-selling "As Daylight Dies", which remains the best-selling KILLSWITCH ENGAGE album to date.

With BURN ETERNAL, the pair is able to expand its creative chemistry in new ways that sound familiar but wholly fresh at the same time.

"Burn Eternal" track listing:

01. Wounds I've Made
02. No Escape
03. Blackheart
04. To Bear The Cross
05. Scared Of Shadows
06. Bitter Pill
07. Learning To Let Go
08. Born Again
09. Fell Silent

Multiple variations of vinyl will be made available worldwide, including TalkShopLive and Metal Injection variations.

Jones's departure from KILLSWITCH ENGAGE in 2012 eventually kicked off a prolific journey of musical output from his bands DEVIL YOU KNOW, who won best new band at the 2014 Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards, LIGHT THE TORCH, who put forth two critically acclaimed albums with 2018's "Revival" and 2021's "You Will Be The Death Of Me" and SION with YouTube star Jared Dines. His revered vocals have made guest appearances on a wide array of music by BODY COUNT, CROBOT and Dee Snider, to name a few.

Meanwhile, Dutkiewicz has remained a KILLSWITCH stalwart for more than 25 years as a founding member, producer, prolific writer and, of course, accomplished guitarist. He has lent his production chops to an impressive list of bands that includes UNDEROATH, PARKWAY DRIVE and SHADOWS FALL, as well as to his own projects TIMES OF GRACE and SERPENTINE DOMINION. Now, nearly 14 years later, the dynamic duo returned to the studio and emerged with BURN ETERNAL's debut self-titled record.

As all good things do, the project naturally blossomed amongst dinner with friends. While KILLSWITCH was in the U.K. supporting IRON MAIDEN, Jones happened to be in the U.K. performing and so he and Dutkiewicz decided to sit down and break bread. As the night went on, and the familiar warmth of longtime friendship took hold, Howard asked Adam a simple question, "Hey, do you have any riffs for me to sing over?"

Without any promise of label backing, and fueled by a genuine love of each other's company, the duo embarked on a grand journey of co-writing and demoing, leading them to numerous recording studios and ultimately tracking what would eventually become BURN ETERNAL's debut LP.

Each time they came together the feeling was familiar yet exciting, Jones describing it as "a longstanding itch you finally got to scratch," and adding "it was a fun situation because there weren't any expectations" The lack of deadline was freeing, allowing them to explore how their creative dynamic has evolved after so much time apart.

"Howard has changed a lot as a person since we last worked together," Adam said. "While writing BURN ETERNAL, he was just like an open book, like, 'Let's try all these different ideas.' It was really refreshing."

Photo credit: Travis Shinn