Atonement
Studio album by
Killswitch Engage
ReleasedAugust 16, 2019 (2019-08-16)
RecordedFebruary–April 2019
Genre
Length39:01
Label
ProducerAdam Dutkiewicz
Killswitch Engage chronology
Incarnate
(2016)		 Atonement
(2019)
Singles from Atonement
  1. "Unleashed"
    Released: June 25, 2019
  2. "I Am Broken Too"
    Released: July 16, 2019
  3. "The Signal Fire"
    Released: August 15, 2019
  4. "I Can't Be the Only One"
    Released: February 22, 2020

Atonement is the eighth studio album by American metalcore band Killswitch Engage, released through Metal Blade Records on August 16, 2019.[3] Lead single "Unleashed" was released on June 25, and followed by "I Am Broken Too" in July which would later follow up with a music video in August, as well as "The Signal Fire" shortly before the album's release.[4] The band began a co-headlining tour of North America with Clutch in promotion of the album in July.[5]

In November 2019, the track "Unleashed" was nominated for the Grammy Award for "Best Metal Performance", making it the third Grammy nomination for Killswitch Engage.[6]

On May 1, 2020, the band released an EP entitled Atonement II: B-Sides for Charity on their Bandcamp, featuring six previously unreleased songs taken from the recording sessions of Atonement. 100% of the proceeds from the EP's sales were donated to the COVID-19 relief organization Center For Disaster Philanthropy, raising over $30,000.[7]

Background and recording

The album was recorded over a period of two years, with ideas for the album beginning in 2017. Recording sessions took place on both coasts of the United States, but they were put on hold when vocalist Jesse Leach developed scar tissue on a polyp in his throat and underwent speech and vocal therapy for three months. Atonement was thus described as a "reflection of perseverance and passion through the trials and suffering of our existence" by the band,[3] and by Leach as "musically the most diverse record we've done as a band".[8]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic78/100[9]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
Blabbermouth.net8/10[11]
Metal Injection8.5/10[12]
Wall of Sound7/10[1]

The album received positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 78 out of 100 based on five reviews, indicating "generally favourable reviews".[9]

Wall of Sound writer Ricky Aarons wrote that Atonement "does what [the band's] other releases have, and that is, craft the build-ups and hooks to what we would expect to hear as a crunchy breakdown" but then the band "steadily bring us back down to the start", which "retains old-school metal fans but also attracts the more contemporary metalcore fans". Aarons concluded that "maybe what Killswitch Engage have done here is perfect, and therefore it could be their best album".[1]

Loudwire named it one of the 50 best metal albums of 2019.[13]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Unleashed"4:35
2."The Signal Fire" (featuring Howard Jones)3:05
3."Us Against the World"3:19
4."The Crownless King" (featuring Chuck Billy)3:10
5."I Am Broken Too"2:39
6."As Sure as the Sun Will Rise"2:49
7."Know Your Enemy"3:51
8."Take Control"3:44
9."Ravenous"2:52
10."I Can't Be the Only One"4:09
11."Bite the Hand That Feeds"4:48
Total length:39:01
Atonement II: B-Sides for Charity
EP by
Killswitch Engage
ReleasedMay 1, 2020 (2020-05-01)
RecordedFebruary–April 2019
GenreMetalcore
Length24:36
LabelMetal Blade
ProducerAdam Dutkiewicz
Atonement II: B-Sides for Charity[14]
No.TitleLength
1."To the Great Beyond"3:58
2."Hollow Convictions"4:49
3."Killing of Leviathan"2:55
4."No Devotion"4:22
5."I Feel Alive Again"3:39
6."Prophets of Treason"4:53
Total length:24:38

Personnel

Credits adapted from album's liner notes.[15]

Killswitch Engage

Guest musicians

Production

  • Daniel Castleman – assistant engineer
  • Andy Sneap – mixing, mastering
  • Richey Beckett – cover illustration
  • Travis Shinn – group photos

Charts

Chart (2019) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[16] 4
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[17] 16
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[18] 23
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[19] 70
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[20] 17
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[21] 12
French Albums (SNEP)[22] 161
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[23] 11
Japan Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[24] 93
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[25] 60
Scottish Albums (OCC)[26] 7
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[27] 55
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[28] 9
UK Albums (OCC)[29] 13
US Billboard 200[30] 13

References

  1. 1 2 3 Aarons, Ricky (August 11, 2019). "Killswitch Engage – Atonement (Album Review)". Wall of Sound. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  2. ↑ Sievers, Alex (August 12, 2019). "Killswitch Engage / Atonement". Kill Your Stereo. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  3. 1 2 "Killswitch Engage Announce 'Atonement'". Metal Blade. June 25, 2019. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  4. ↑ Chelosky, Danielle (August 5, 2019). "Killswitch Engage Release Heartbreaking New Music Video, I Am Broken Too". Kerrang!. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  5. ↑ Divita, Joe (June 25, 2019). "Killswitch Engage Release 'Unleashed,' Announce 'Atonement' Album". Loudwire. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  6. ↑ "Grammy Awards 2020: List of nominees". BBC News. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  7. ↑ Spencer Kaufman (May 1, 2020). "Killswitch Engage Release Atonement II B-Sides for Charity: Stream". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  8. ↑ "KILLSWITCH ENGAGE Singer On 'Atonement' Album: 'It's Musically The Most Diverse Record We've Done As A Band'". Blabbermouth.net. July 13, 2019. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  9. 1 2 "Atonement Reviews – Killswitch Engage". Metacritic. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  10. ↑ "Atonement - Killswitch Engage | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic.
  11. ↑ Lawson, Dom (August 14, 2019). "CD Reviews - Atonement Killswitch Engage". Blabbermouth. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  12. ↑ Andrew, J (August 15, 2019). "Album Review: KILLSWITCH ENGAGE Atonement". Metal Injection. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  13. ↑ "The 50 Best Metal Albums of 2019". Loudwire. Townsquare Media. December 3, 2019. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  14. ↑ "KILLSWITCH ENGAGE Releases 'Atonement II B-Sides For Charity'". Blabbermouth.net. May 1, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  15. ↑ Atonement (booklet). Metal Blade. 2019.
  16. ↑ "ARIA Australian Top 50 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. August 26, 2019. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  17. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Killswitch Engage – Atonement" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  18. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Killswitch Engage – Atonement" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  19. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Killswitch Engage – Atonement" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  20. ↑ "Killswitch Engage Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
  21. ↑ "Killswitch Engage: Atonement" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  22. ↑ "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums Fusionnes – SNEP (Week 34, 2019)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
  23. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Killswitch Engage – Atonement" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  24. ↑ "Atonement on Billboard Japan Hot Albums". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved September 10, 2020.
  25. ↑ "Killswitch Engage". Oricon. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
  26. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  27. ↑ "Top 100 Albumes – Semana 34: del 16.8.2019 al 22.8.2019" (in Spanish). Productores de Música de España. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
  28. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Killswitch Engage – Atonement". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
  29. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  30. ↑ "Killswitch Engage Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved August 27, 2019.


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