Article By: Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker ‡ Edited By: Leanne Ridgeway
Singer Jesse Leach is one of my favorite vocalists in all of music… the man can do it all! From aggressive sonics to melodic, soulful crooning in bands like Killswitch Engage, Seemless, The Empire Shall Fall, Times Of Grace, and his very first band Corrin.
It is that latter one that is of primary importance today, as Leach has revealed he is in the early stages of a new hardcore/punk-oriented project. Without revealing any names, none for the band or folks involved in it with him, Jesse revealed the following, via an Instagram post:
“It’s been a long time coming, man! Woke up with a fire in my heart!
“These four albums — MINOR THREAT’s ‘Minor Threat’, 7 SECONDS’ ‘Walk Together, Rock Together’, BLACK FLAG’s ‘Damaged’, and DISCHARGE’s ‘Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing’ — serve as inspiration for a jam session today with three killer humans! Don’t tell anyone, but I’ve put together a punk hardcore band/project for fun and today is our first jam session here in New York! To say I’m excited is a vast understatement!”
He added: “This is a side project and it is being done for the pure enjoyment of playing. It is also a necessary outlet for a singing/yelling style and lyrics I can’t fit into any other band or project I’ve ever done. My 15-year-old self is quite proud of me! GO!!”
In a 2013 interview with Noisecreep, Jesse referenced his earlier pre-KSE bands, saying:
“Interestingly enough, my first band was more a mixture of hardcore and rock. But vocally, I became more of a metal and hardcore vocalist because I always ended up playing with people who were already influenced by bands like INTEGRITY and DEADGUY; bands that played a mixture of styles. Even though I fell in love with hardcore and punk, I was always a vocalist who did a mixture of things — singing, screaming, yelling — the kind of vocals they now call ‘metalcore.’“
Personally, I find this news all quite interesting and exciting. Until then, check out Jesse Leach doing his thing in one of his bands, The Empire Shall Fall, in the video below.
