New TIMES OF GRACE Album Is 'Done,' Says KILLSWITCH ENGAGE's JESSE LEACH

In a new interview with Terry "Beez" Bezer of Knotfest.com's "Mosh Talks With Beez", KILLSWITCH ENGAGE singer Jesse Leach spoke about the progress of the recording sessions for the new album from TIMES OF GRACE, his collaborative project with KILLSWITCH ENGAGE guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz.

"The TIMES OF GRACE record is done," he said (see video below). "We have enough songs for a full-length record and then enough songs for an EP afterwards, if we choose to… We've decided to separate the two batches of songs. It's done and done, and I'm extremely proud of it, and I think it's probably the best record that Adam and I have ever done in our careers. Not only because it's something we're proud of lyrically and what it stands for, and it's much different from the first record — I just think because it's diverse. It shows a little bit more of a rock side, a little bit more of a stoner, post-metal side, it shows more blues. It gave us freedom to just do whatever we wanted to do. That, and Adam took the reins on… I wanna say half the record is him leading and half is me, and then we come together on songs. So you're gonna hear a lot more of Adam's creativity in his voice. And I wrote a couple of songs that he sang, and he brought a whole different light to it. So I'm extremely proud of that."

Asked if fans can expect to see the new TIMES OF GRACE album released this year, Jesse said: "I hope so. We're pacing ourselves. We're trying to be smart with how we're gonna put it out, how we're gonna present it. The last record, there was a lot of visuals to accompany the record. I wanna make sure we roll it out in a very sort of artistic way. I want nothing more than people to get the chills on their arm and the back of their neck when they get that first taste of what we're going for. So we're working diligently behind the scenes. We're gonna find a home on a record label. We're gonna do it independently, but it must be to a certain standard. Hell, we've waited this long to put this thing out, so we're gonna make sure when we roll it out, it's exactly how we want it to be rolled out, with the artwork and the feel and the vibe. I just want it to be something so different and hopefully refreshing to the music community, something that people don't see coming. We'll see what happens."

TIMES OF GRACE originally entered Signature Sound studio in San Diego, California in late 2017 to begin recording material for its new LP. Sitting behind the drum kit during the sessions was Dan Gluszak, who previously played drums for TIMES OF GRACE on tour and has since been named an official member of the band.

Three years ago, Leach said that TIMES OF GRACE's new material was "shaping up to be a whole different world of sound and words. I will be using different melodic registers and less growl substituted by more 'melodic yelling,'" he said. "The lyrics are primarily quite melancholy so far but most of my lyrics often do begin that way and find light as the process unfolds."

TIMES OF GRACE's debut album, "The Hymn Of A Broken Man", was released in January 2011 via Roadrunner Records. The CD sold around 10,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 44 on The Billboard 200 chart.

Leach told Lithium Magazine in 2016 that "the cool thing about TIMES OF GRACE is that it's another outlet for us, and moving forward with that project, it's gonna be even more different from KILLSWITCH. There's gonna be no quote-unquote metalcore sound going on. As a matter of fact, I'm planning on not doing much aggressive vocals at all."

Dutkiewicz and Leach originally worked together on KILLSWITCH ENGAGE's benchmark album, 2002's "Alive Or Just Breathing". That record has become definitive for an entire generation of American metal, with Leach's voice and uplifting lyrics serving as one of the key elements that propelled the album to "modern classic" status. Leach left KILLSWITCH ENGAGE shortly after "Alive Or Just Breathing"'s release but rejoined the group in early 2012 following the departure of his replacement, Howard Jones.