Bringing back up Adam D — who also serves as producer on all of KSE’s albums — we talk about his uncanny production abilities in the studio the band brings to life not only on record but with their live shows as well.

So working with with Adam D is always interesting? Adam misses nothing. I mean its almost borderline creepy (laughs) It’s not meant in a bad way by any means but in the studio, he misses nothing. I’ll come back in and listen to the replay and thinks its fine but he’ll say something like “It’s good but there was some fluctuation on this part. Did you hear that?” and I’ll just look at him and say no. Why? Because I’m normal (laughs)  

Since a lot of lyrical content within KSE”s music has spiritual and meaningful connotations, I asked Jones to explain a bit further.

Does your faith play an influence in the music?   

Oh yeah, I think every song that this band has written has that influence. Even going back to Jesse (previous singer for KSE) we take that seriously.  

What is the inspiration and meaning behind one of your biggest hits on The End of Heartache, “Rose of Sharyn?”. Many folks — including my wife — connect to that song of about losing a loved one.   

I never tell. Jones says with his stern yet kindhearted demeanor. I’m just glad that people connect the way they do with the song. I’ve gotten a lot of nice words from fans for that song and it's probably one the fastest songs I have ever written. About 3 or 4 days ago, we were doing a signing and a guy comes up to us. He lifts up his shirt and shows us his tattoo. He got all the lyrics to the song on his back and shared how much that song meant to him. I was left speechless because it was so intense.  

As one of bands at the forefront of modern American heavy metal, fans of this band display such a strong loyalty for them. They return the love later on in the evening during their set in Grand Prairie, Texas as they dedicate “Rose of Sharyn” to slain metal guitarist Dimebag Darrell Abbott. Since the show that night was on the third anniversary of his death, I could not think of a more appropriate song than that.  

Killswitch Engage, along with Lamb of God, Devildriver and Soilwork continue their trek throughout the U.S through December 17. For more information, visit www.killswitchengage.com