Killswitch Engage

There may be lots of melody (and we mean lots) in Killswitch Engage's roiling concoction of black metal and hardcore, but it's mixed well beneath a deafening crush of guitar-bass-drum violence, and besides everybody needs a little melody now and then, right? The Pantera-level grooves that lead up to said prettiness really go a long way toward forgiving any perceived pandering to the Warped Tour kids and their ringtones. "My Curse" alone proves KsE has done their groove metal homework. When frontman Howard Jones isn't singing sweetly (if anguished), he's working up one esophagus-ravaging scream after another.