Top 10 Songs Of All Time: Killswitch Engage | Strength Training & Conditioning

Kids these days have no clue about what constitutes great training music. No worries if you’re perplexed as well tho, since below are some marvelous choices to pick from.

I recently asked a few acquaintances what they’ve got blasting on their iPods during workouts. The answers ranged from dance (Tiesto, David Guetta) and R’n'B/hip hop (Usher, Eminem, 50 Cent) all the way to classic rock (Guns N’ Roses, AC/DC, Scorpions) but nobody I questioned paid homage to hard rock/heavy metal.

I dunno about you but if a gym is playing your typical pop/rock songs (as they without fail do) and my mp3 player is nowhere to be found, I might as well skip the session altogether and head straight home. As much as I like Tiesto (my favorite in his genre along with ATB), anything softer than Metallica/Iron Maiden in the weight room won’t cut it. Those great bands will suffice for accessory work but even they gotta take the backseat when going for PR’s on main lifts.

As of late I’ve been tapping into the insanity within my mind (trust me, plenty of crazy in there) with the help of Killswitch Engage. There’s a fine line between pulling off razor-sharp, borderline genius guitar riffs alongside aggressive yet enjoyable, throat-rustling singing and merely irritating the hell outta your ears when combining metal with screamo vocals.

I consider Howard Jones the best in the business when it comes to throwing together soft, smooth lyrics and testosterone-soaring, hell-on-wheels, annihilate-thy-enemy-and-their-entire-heritage onslaught in the same song.

Now that Jones is out of the group (as of January 2012), let’s take a trip down memory lane and reminisce about the TOP 10 songs of this fantastic band.

Turn the speakers up, bring out your old air guitar from the basement and wait ’til the police arrive to confiscate your computer for a severe case of 415-2 (Google “415-2 police code” if you aren’t geeky enough to get the reference).

10. Holy Diver

I guarantee Dio himself would approve of this cover. All balls to the wall after 2:17.

9. Let The Bridges Burn

8. The Return

7. Starting Over

I consider As Daylight Dies KSE’s best album by a mile. However, this gem can be found on their latest self-titled album.

6. This Fire Burns

5. Reject Yourself

4. My Curse

The second KSE song I ever heard. Surprisingly, didn’t like it very much. Guess I kinda grew into enjoying it over time.

3. Break The Silence

The beginning demonstrates why I enjoy these guys so much. No screwing around, getting all cutesy with the intro like so many other bands but spitting venom from the get-go. Awesome.

2. The Arms Of Sorrow

A track with a calm(er) undertone. Almost a ballad by their standards. Again, the intro is spectacular and when Howard shouts “Imprisooooooned”, it’s goosebump time.

1. This Is Absolution

The song that first introduced me to this band. 1:57 onwards the build-up is insane. Fucking savages. I’ve broken more PR’s listening to this song and Wintersun’s Battle Against Time than any others combined. Reason plenty enough to be topping this list.

Bubbling under: Rose of Sharyn, Reckoning, The End of Heartache, When Darkness Falls

While I reckon Killswitch Engage will scare the ever-loving shit out of your prototypical an-hour-of-cardio-on-the-elliptical crowd, you can’t deny the fact that this curriculum encourages some first class headbanging to take place in front of your screen.

Now start nodding your head back and forth as you let that long, beautiful hair of yours beat up the people around you. Gather a room full of selected friends who won’t mind a few bruises, bloody noses, broken jaws or a concussion. Join in the mosh pit and mosh to the music like Rosie O’Donnell does in a crowd blocking her path to the buffet.

I promise some magic will rub off onto your lifts, too. Really, I do.

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