So I haven't done a focus piece in awhile for a band. But being that I grew up through high school and my college days listening to the likes of Killswitch Engage and Seemless, I thought I would share some light on (if you don't already know) Jesse Leach's latest project... The Empire Shall Fall.
The five piece band was formed in 2008 after Leach's departure from Killswitch Engage and hiatus of Seemless. The need for creating music was still on his mind, but he ventured into a more heavy style rather than the jazz infused metal of Seemless. Currently, the group consists of:
Jesse Leach - Vocals | Jake Davenport - Guitar | Jeff Pitts - Drums |
Marcus de Lisle - Guitar | Nick Sollecito - Bass
TESF has released one album since their inception. "Awaken" was released on November 17, 2009 via Angle Side Side Records (owned by bassist Nick Sollecito).
Providence, RI’s freshly-minted metallic hardcore powerhouse The Empire Shall fall first came into being in the summer of 2008, after longtime friends Nick Sollecito and Jesse Leach got together and decided it was high time for them to form a band. Though Leach had split with Killswitch Engage several years previously and Sollecito’s roots lay mainly in the jazz and hip hop scenes, they were dead-set on bringing a balls-out modern metal band to life. After finding a temporary drummer and recruiting Jake Davenport on guitar, and practicing endlessly to truly nail down the TESF sound, the quartet began playing gigs around New England. The addition of Marc de Lisle on second guitar and Jeff Pitts on drums solidified the band’s lineup, and led to the recording of the band’s debut full-length, Awaken. Financing the entire recording as well as all merchandise, pressing, and touring costs themselves and set to release the album on Sollecito’s own Angle Side Side Records in November 2009, The Empire Shall Fall are the perfect example of a determined, ambitious, totally DIY band on a mission.
The Empire Shall Fall’s eclectic sound is rooted in metal/hardcore, citing luminaries At the Gates, Meshuggah, and Edge of Sanity as major inspirations. However, ‘Awaken’ also draws heavily upon the band members’ combined interests in jazz, punk, and experimental music to create a compelling blend of melody, brutality, and sheer determination that is impossible to pin down and sure to intrigue fans of Refused, At the Drive In, Deftones, and BTBAM.
Fueled by political outrage and a never-ending search for truth, the band’s message is as potent as their music, and serves as a call to arms for a lost generation. Advocating positivity, unity, and empowerment and taking cues from legendary rabble-rousers and free thinkers like Jello Biafra, Benjamin Franklin, Cynthia McKinney, and Ron Paul, THE EMPIRE SHALL FALL’s passion for and dedication to their political causes forms the backbone of the band and sets them a head and shoulders apart from their peers. -TESF Bio
The album has been cited to have such themed influences of politics and transcendentalism. The album (lyrically speaking) advocates positivity, unity, and empowerment. Other historical inspirations for the album have been cited as Jello Biafra, Benjamin Franklin, Cynthia McKinney, and Ron Paul.
All was quiet for sometime afterwards with the group as Jesse and fellow guitarist, Adam Dutkiewicz, formed yet another group titled "Times of Grace" (which I will do another piece on individually). After months of touring their new material, Jesse and the boys from TESF got right back on the horse and started writing new material for the upcoming EP, "Volume 1 - Solar Plexus", which is set to be released in the fall of 2011.
So far, not much is known about the expectations for this album. The group did however release their first single of the EP titled "As The City Sleeps", seen below:
All I can say, after playing a few tracks such as "Lords of War", "Voices Forming Weapons" and "We The People", I am very much looking forward to the evolution of TESF and the new material surfacing. Hopefully we will be lucky enough to see some touring action from these guys in the near future.
"This is a call to arms,
Your mind is the ammunition,"This is a call to arms,
Your voice is a weapon to chant down the propaganda,
To uplift to teach each word a spark to ignite the flames of our defiance,
This is an unseen war of words..."
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