With Jesse Leach's return to the fold, and Killswitch Engage's subsequent return to form, and the memory of his lacklustre final days in the band still lingering, it seems Howard Jones’s stock has taken quite a plummet recently. It should, however, be noted that this is a man who fronted KSE during their commercial and, some End Of Heartache fans would argue, critical high point.
So when the opening track, the aptly named A New Beginning, comes spewing out of your speakers on Howard’s first post-Killswitch project in a barrage of thrashing guitars and pure, screaming aggression from the man himself it’s hard to suppress a grin of the shit-eating variety.
For all of Howard’s apparent disinterest in the heavy stuff a few years back, any lingering fears that he would go soft are all but put to bed by the double-time stomp of the third track, Embracing The Torture.
In fairness, Devil You Know are hardly stretching the boundaries of metalcore here, but with a weapon in their arsenal like Howard’s patented roar turned soulful croon and the way the band utilise it in such fine style, expect The Beauty Of Destruction to right a few misplaced truths about one of modern metal’s best frontmen. He’s on his way back.
