During a new appearance on the “Talk Toomey” podcast, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE bassist Mike D’Antonio spoke about what he and his bandmates have planned for the coming months as artists and fans alike look forward to a hoped-for return to something resembling pre-COVID normalcy.
“We have so many touring opportunities that we can’t take advantage of, so it’s just a matter of when we’re gonna be able to get back on the road,” Mike said (see video below). “When we do, it’s all guns blazing — let’s go; let’s do this thing again. Who knows what it’s gonna look like?! But as of now, all we’re doing is kind of looking forward and excited for the future, to get back on the road. You never know if we’re gonna do a live show on the Internet or not. We’ll see how that goes. There’s definitely talks of something like that. No real new music per se yet. But we’ll get bored sooner or later. [Laughs]
“But, yeah, KILLSWITCH has kind of been on hiatus since last March, unfortunately, except for dropping the ‘Atonement II’ rarities CD that we did for charity,” he continued. “It felt really good to be able to give back, with songs that we kind of didn’t know what to do with, so we just released that real quick, gave some money to charity and hopefully helped out some people. But right now, we’re just bare-knuckling, ready to get back on the road, really.”
Asked if he still enjoys being on the road, Mike said: “To a point. [Laughs] Those first few, like, five or six tours are usually really, really fun, and then it starts to become a job after a while. But we’re just so lucky to be able to do something like that. I think especially now with the climate and the COVID that’s been going on right now, it makes you appreciate those times and makes you think back to how whiney you could have been thinking your life was so terrible being on the road and having fun and doing what you love. I have a new perspective on that, and I cannot wait to get back out and do it again.”
KILLSWITCH ENGAGE‘s latest album, “Atonement”, was released in August 2019 via Metal Blade Records in the U.S. and Sony Music Entertainment in the rest of the world. The disc features guest appearances by the band’s former lead singer Howard Jones and TESTAMENT frontman Chuck Billy. It marks the band’s third full-length release since the return of frontman Jesse Leach, who rejoined the group in 2012.
Last summer, three singles from KILLSWITCH ENGAGE reached new sales milestones in the U.S. “My Curse” was certified platinum by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association Of America) on September 10 for accumulating a million certified units. That same day, “The End Of Heartache” and KILLSWITCH‘s cover of the DIO classic “Holy Diver” were both certified gold for accumulating half a million units.
According to the RIAA, one equivalent song unit is equal to a single digital song sale, or 150 on-demand audio and/or video streams.
KILLSWITCH ENGAGE recently celebrated two decades as a band with a comprehensive and in-depth 20-year timeline that documented so many of the band’s memorable career milestones and storied history with plenty of captivating images. The clickable, scroll-through timeline boasts flyers from early shows, live shots from festival appearances, and fan tattoos. It also traces major tours, video shoots, album releases, Grammy nominations, lineup changes, and beyond. The timeline functions as a digital museum that effectively tells the complete KILLSWITCH ENGAGE story. The timeline was created specifically for KILLSWITCH ENGAGE fans to enjoy and to reminisce.
