KILLSWITCH ENGAGE's JESSE LEACH: 'I Stopped Calling Myself A Christian'

In a new interview with The Morning Call, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE frontman Jesse Leach, whose father was a minister, was asked how much of that religious upbringing still shapes who he is today, and how much it doesn't. He responded: "It's a constant muse. I sit comfortably with the good stuff that was taught to me about love, taking care of the poor and being mindful of your neighbor. Those concepts continue to remind me of my purpose. On the flip side, organized religion can be very ugly behind the facade. I've seen the abuse of power, the manipulation, and preachers standing in the pulpit claiming God is love while condemning a Muslim or a gay person. That stays interwoven into my DNA as a form of protest — wanting to correct the wrongs that have been instilled."

He continued: "I was raised in a very evangelical home, but we've all changed quite a bit. I stopped calling myself a Christian. I believe I am a spiritual being. I've humbled myself because I think there's a bit of arrogance in telling somebody you know the absolute truth. The more I've traveled, the more my worldview has changed. It's an acceptance that I don't have the answers, but I'm going to continue to search until the day I die."

Back in 2018, Leach told No-Prize From God with Ryan J. Downey about his early exposure to religion: "My father has always been a searching, wandering guy, looking for the true meaning of God after he found Jesus in the 1970s. My mother was predominantly the supportive wife and did nursing third shift. She would be sleeping during the day and my brother and I would be left to ourselves, living in Florida, Missouri, inner-city Philadelphia, out on a farm in Wisconsin. We moved around a lot because my dad was constantly in search of something. My parents are great. They did the best they could to raise us but I definitely think that my brother and I and later on my sister were raised with a certain mindset and indoctrination with the Christian faith, which was really good and also I believe a little bit inhibiting [to our] growth as well. [We] met and had access to all kinds of people, but a lot of it was in the context of a religious community."

He added: "Where we lived in Germantown, this section of Philadelphia in the 1980s, there was an active Black Panther chapter and in our neighborhood, we lived next to a Rastafarian woman. I could see her — she would go outside naked in her backyard and perform rituals. I'm not sure if she was into voodoo or what she was into. But I vividly remember watching her prancing around her backyard, her dreadlocks going everywhere, chanting, from a young age being totally fascinated by that. Of course I was thinking it was 'evil' because of my indoctrination, but I was still fascinated. 'What is this 'other' thing going on? This other practice?' And also being a minority. We were the only white family in the entire area. So we were exposed to a different type of Christianity, more of the Baptist, some Christians call it the 'happy clappy' stuff — singing and dancing, the early Pentecostal stuff. Philly was probably my first memories. My memories begin with living in Philadelphia in a pretty bad part of town but also having a pretty tight-knit community there. And Bible studies my parents would host."

Referencing the fact that most organized religions, including Christianity, still regard homosexuality as being against their teachings, as sinful and contrary to scripture, Leach said: "Nowadays whether or not gay people should be married is a hot-button issue. It's absolutely asinine. When you look at what issues we're truly facing in this world and what the Christians who are in the spotlight choose to focus on, it's just so disappointing and something I've distanced myself from further and further as I get older, get more educated, travel the world more, and meet more people.

"The human element of organized religion is what destroys, I believe, any semblance of what a God would be," he added. "It's just such a contradiction. I mean we chuckle about all of this stuff, but that's real stuff. And that stuff is still going on in different ways. They've gotten smarter with masking it. And it's not just Christians. It's religion in general. Any means that we're using to control people, there's automatically fear there. You've got to fear something. And I'm just at this point in my life where I just don't buy it anymore. I don't think that this supreme being would want us to be this subservient and not liberate us. If God is truly love like a lot of religions claim, all of this segregation, separation and judgment we're doing is a total antithesis of what love is."

Earlier this month KILLSWITCH ENGAGE kicked off a U.S. tour with support from MACHINE HEAD, IRON REAGAN and HAVOK.

KILLSWITCH ENGAGE's latest album, "This Consequence", came out in February 2025 via Metal Blade. "This Consequence" was KILLSWITCH ENGAGE's ninth LP overall, and sixth with Leach, who rejoined the band in 2012.

"This Consequence" arrived alongside a hugely successful winter/spring 2025 tour, yielded a Top 10 single with "I Believe" and landed the band on the covers of Revolver and Outburn.

In the summer of 2025, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE completed the massive "Summer Of Loud" tour, co-headlining alongside BEARTOOTH, I PREVAIL and PARKWAY DRIVE.

Fans got their first taste of "This Consequence" with pulverizing track "Forever Aligned", swiftly followed by "I Believe". More recently, the group shared videos for "Collusion" and "Aftermath".