BURN ETERNAL, Featuring KILLSWITCH ENGAGE Guitarist ADAM DUTKIEWICZ And Ex-Singer HOWARD JONES, Announces Debut Album

Few names are as revered in metalcore as that of dynamic duo of singer Howard Jones and guitarist/producer Adam Dutkiewicz. The anticipation for what this momentous reunion will bring has been mounting ever since the announcement of their new project BURN ETERNAL.

Today, they have finally revealed that BURN ETERNAL's self-titled debut album will arrive on February 26 via Metal Blade. Alongside the news, they share the lyric video for first single "Wounds I've Made".

"'Wounds I've Made' is about both acknowledging mistakes and regrets of the past, while also constantly evolving and moving forward," says Jones. "Sometimes change hurts, but it's necessary for self-growth and to avoid being stuck in the past. Some relationships aren't meant to be."

"We are glad to finally release 'Wounds I've Made'. It's crazy to think that this was one of the first songs I wrote for this project… six years ago! I really hope you guys dig it," states Dutkiewicz.

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," says Adam. "While writing BURN ETERNAL, he was just like an open book, like, 'Let's try all these different ideas.' It was really refreshing."

Earlier this year, Adam told Ore Bihovsky of TotalRock's "Louder" radio show that BURN ETERNAL consists of just him and Howard, and described the band's sound as: "It sounds a bit like KILLSWITCH, obviously, because I'm a songwriter for KILLSWITCH. Yeah, it sounds like me and Howard."

Work on BURN ETERNAL's debut LP had been ongoing for at least two years before the effort was mixed in December 2024.

Regarding how the project came together, Adam previously told Bihovsky: "[Howard] just hit me up. He was, like, 'Why don't you write some music for me?' And I was, like, 'Sure.'"

In August 2023, Jones took to his Instagram to write that "13 demos" were created for the new group, which hoped to put the finishing touches on the record "as soon as possible."

Jones left KILLSWITCH ENGAGE in 2012 and battled manic depression and bipolar disorder before forming a new project, DEVIL YOU KNOW, with guitarist Francesco Artusato (ALL SHALL PERISH) and drummer John Sankey (DEVOLVED). Along with bassist Ryan Wombacher (BLEEDING THROUGH),they recorded and toured behind two well-received albums, 2014's "The Beauty Of Destruction" and 2015's "They Bleed Red". In 2017, the band changed its name to LIGHT THE TORCH.

Jones made an appearance on KILLSWITCH ENGAGE's 2019 album "Atonement", contributing guest vocals to the song "The Signal Fire".

Jones discussed his previous mental health issues in a 2016 interview with Metal Hammer. He said: "For a lot of the time during the whole manic depression thing, I didn't realize how bad I was. I thought the high levels of anxiety I was experiencing was just my lot in life, I didn't realize that there was help on hand for me to be able to deal with that. I thought that I was just meant to feel really nervous around large crowds. Now it's like being a kid again, because I can deal with it, so I've got my passion back and it's great."

Asked what made him get back into music after leaving KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, Howard told Heavy New York: "Honestly, I think it was because I was just kind of tired of doing nothing and I don't do much else other than music. I felt like I needed to venture out because I was basically agoraphobic for three years. It's kind of well known. I went off the grid. I didn't have a cell phone for three years — I was gone. It felt, like, 'Okay, maybe I should dip my toe in. I don't have to do it full time. I don't have to do what I don't want to do.' That's all I was thinking. I started moving, I started doing things. It was definitely a struggle, especially for the first few years. I was, like, 'What am I doing?' There's been few things in my life that has been consistent other than music. I just did it. It just took some time, then all of the sudden, the spark showed up. I fell back in love with what I was doing. I really can't explain it. It just sort of happened."

Current KILLSWITCH ENGAGE singer Jesse Leach appeared on the band's self-titled debut and sophomore album, "Alive Or Just Breathing", before exiting the group. Jones took over on vocals for "The End Of Heartache", "As Daylight Dies" and the 2009 self-titled set before being dismissed from KILLSWITCH ENGAGE 14 years ago and being replaced by a returning Leach.

In 2012, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE bassist Mike D'Antonio told Boston Globe that the band's split with Jones was necessitated by the singer's struggle with personal issues, including diabetes that had gone untreated for several years. "It became very apparent we had to move on without him," D'Antonio said.

Photo credit: Travis Shinn