Tirades of Truth: Times of Grace - The Hymn of a Broken Man

So this past Saturday I got a late Christmas present in the form of a sign copy of the debut album from Times of Grace. Who? Jesse Leach and Adam Dutkiewicz that's who. Jesse was lead vocals of Killswitch Engage for their first 2 albums, which includes their ground-breaking album Alive or Just Breathing. I can't talk enough about how great that album is, you can read my thoughts on it HERE. And as far as Jesse is concerned, he is an awesome vocalist. He's in my top 10 vocalists...that's how good he is. And after this album, he is definitely moving up. Adam is still in KsE and according to interviews these songs were written while Adam was recovering from a surgery.

Onto the album. I have listened to this thing pretty much non-stop since Saturday and I gotta say it doesn't disappoint. If you are a fan of KsE, you will like what you hear. Parts of the album are very reminiscent of KsE (Strength in Numbers, Fight for Life, Live in Love, Hope Remains), you get the double bass, the weird vocal distortion that was used on AoJB. The lyrics are totally a throw-back to AoJB. They are powerful that's the best way I can sum them up. AoJB had some uplifting lyrics, and The Hymn of a Broken Man takes that concept and builds on it. Check out the lyrics from Live in Love;

Just live in love, believe in love

In my life I have seen all the ways they tried (to destroy mankind)
Break societies system, change the mercy, there's no compromise
Don't mistake kindness and compassion for weakness
It takes so much more strength to be selfless and live in love

I trust you live in selflessness and live in love

Through all the days, just live in love
Through all the pain, believe in love

(I change to think you not, it tries to function if this world...)
Take the time to think about your life, live righteous

I trust you live in selflessness and live in love

Through all the days, just live in love
Through all the pain, believe in love

The words we speak, the ones we don't say
Power you don't know you could say
Through all the days, believe in love

Don't you see, we are all
Don't you see, we are all
Brothers and sisters, we are one
Brothers and sisters, we are one
WE ARE ONE

And I pray this is not in vain, all that you know about, all you can hide
All that you feel inside (Live in love)
All that you know about, all you can hide
All that you feel inside (Live in love)
All that you know about, all you can hide (Through all the days)
All that you feel inside (Live in love)
All that you know about, all you can hide (Through all the pain)
All that you feel inside (Live in love)

When this project was announced, both Jesse and Adam tried to distance it from KsE, for obvious reasons. I was expecting a rock album, but the dual vocals from Jesse are back stronger than ever. Adam's vocals are present as well, but it's Jesse that really shines on this album. His clean vocals were developed more over the years through Seemless and they work great here. His death metal screams are as good as ever if not stronger than his previous albums. The first track Strength in Numbers could have been on any KsE album and it really sets the pace for the entire album.



So the question comes up, is this just KsE without Howard on vocals? And the answer is no. First off, Adam throws in some pretty nice guitar solos, which are never present in KsE (for whatever reason). Secondly, the music does stray away from that metalcore sound that KsE helped create. Take a song like The Forgotten One. It is an acoustic ballad, with a country feel to it. No screams, just some beautiful music. And it's not alone, The End of Eternity never kicks into full speed and has some killer vocals on top of it, but parts of it are just breathtaking. Fall from Grace is similar to The End of Eternity in terms of tempo, but once again it's Jesse's vocals that make this track shine.



I can't forget to mention the fact that all of the instruments were played by Adam Dutkiewicz. I knew he played drums in KsE before moving to guitar, but the fact that he wrote the entire album speaks volumes of his talent. On top of that, he also produced the album. Now he has produced some great albums (All That Remains, As I Lay Dying, and Killswitch Engage to name a few), but he might be the most under-rated man in music today. He gets a bad rap for running around on stage with cape playing guitar, looking like an ass at times, but he is one talented man.

This is a solid album. From start to finish it is everything I was hoping and so much more. I loved their work on KsE, so why would I want them to stray too far from it? This is the KsE that should have been after The End of Heartache. It is enough of the old KsE, yet it takes some chances and pushes those boundaries that we fans put up. As I said in the beginning, if you are a fan of KsE, pick this up you won't be disappointed.

I hope this isn't a one time collaboration between these two. I am curious to see where this progresses from here. If I had to speculate, I would say probably more of the slower tempo songs. Anyway, it's been a long time since I started off the year with such a strong album, it will be interesting to see where it ends the year.