Complete List Of Killswitch Engage Band Members

Feature Photo: Tony Norkus / Shutterstock.com

If you like loud, intense music, you will love this cranking band. Killswitch Engage was formed in Westfield, Massachusetts, in 1999. Known for their influential blend of metalcore, melodic death metal, and hardcore, the band has played a major role in shaping modern American heavy music. Over the years, Killswitch Engage has gone through several lineup changes, with both current and former members contributing to the band’s evolving sound.

As of 2026, Killswitch Engage has released nine studio albums. Their most recent, This Consequence, was released on February 21, 2025. The band has also received three Grammy Award nominations for Best Metal Performance: “The End of Heartache,” “In Due Time,” and “Unleashed.”

The current lineup consists of vocalist Jesse Leach, guitarists Adam Dutkiewicz and Joel Stroetzel, bassist Mike D’Antonio, and drummer Justin Foley. Former official members include vocalist Howard Jones, drummer Tom Gomes, and guitarist Pete Cortese.

Jesse Leach

Jesse Leach was recruited as Killswitch Engage’s original vocalist in 1999 after Mike D’Antonio, Adam Dutkiewicz, and Joel Stroetzel had begun developing the band. Leach sang on the self-titled debut album Killswitch Engage, released in 2000, and the band’s breakthrough second album, Alive or Just Breathing, released in 2002.

Leach left Killswitch Engage during a 2002 tour for personal reasons. A decade later, after Howard Jones departed, Leach auditioned to return and officially rejoined the band in February 2012. His first studio album after returning was Disarm the Descent in 2013, followed by Incarnate, Atonement, and This Consequence.

Leach’s combination of screamed vocals, clean singing, and deeply personal lyrics helped define the band’s earliest sound and has again been central to Killswitch Engage since his return. Outside the band, he has also been involved with projects including The Empire Shall Fall and Times of Grace.

Adam Dutkiewicz

Adam Dutkiewicz is a founding member of Killswitch Engage. When the band began in 1999, Dutkiewicz played drums while Mike D’Antonio played bass and Joel Stroetzel played guitar. Dutkiewicz performed drums on the band’s self-titled debut album and remained behind the kit during much of the recording of Alive or Just Breathing.

In November 2001, Dutkiewicz moved from drums to guitar, creating the twin-guitar lineup that became one of the defining elements of Killswitch Engage’s sound. Tom Gomes was brought in to handle touring drum duties, while Dutkiewicz continued to play much of the percussion on Alive or Just Breathing.

Beyond his work as a guitarist, backing vocalist, and songwriter, Dutkiewicz has been one of the band’s principal producers. His production work has also extended to many other metal bands, including All That Remains and As I Lay Dying.

Joel Stroetzel

Joel Stroetzel is another founding member of Killswitch Engage and has remained one of the band’s guitarists throughout its history. Before Killswitch Engage, Stroetzel and Adam Dutkiewicz played together in Aftershock.

Stroetzel’s rhythm and lead guitar work has appeared on every Killswitch Engage studio album, from the band’s 2000 self-titled debut through This Consequence. His tight riffing and melodic guitar interplay with Dutkiewicz have been fundamental to the band’s sound.

Stroetzel has also contributed backing vocals and has remained a steady presence through every major lineup change in the band’s career.

Mike D’Antonio

Mike D’Antonio is a founding member of Killswitch Engage and has served as the band’s bassist since 1999. He began collaborating with Adam Dutkiewicz after the dissolution of their previous bands, Overcast and Aftershock, helping establish the musical foundation that became Killswitch Engage.

D’Antonio has appeared on every Killswitch Engage studio album. His aggressive bass playing has been a constant part of the band’s sound, but his contribution goes far beyond music. D’Antonio is also a graphic designer and has handled substantial amounts of Killswitch Engage’s album artwork, visual design, and layout work.

Before Killswitch Engage, D’Antonio was a member of the influential Massachusetts metal and hardcore band Overcast.

Justin Foley

Justin Foley joined Killswitch Engage in September 2003, replacing Tom Gomes as the band’s drummer. Howard Jones helped recruit Foley because the two musicians had previously played together in Blood Has Been Shed.

Foley made his Killswitch Engage studio-album debut on The End of Heartache in 2004. He has remained the band’s drummer ever since, appearing on every subsequent studio album through This Consequence.

His technical precision, power, and ability to move between aggressive metal rhythms and more melodic passages have made him an essential part of the band’s sound for more than two decades.

Howard Jones

Howard Jones became Killswitch Engage’s lead vocalist in July 2002 after Jesse Leach left the band. Jones had previously fronted Blood Has Been Shed and was already familiar to the members of Killswitch Engage through the New England heavy music scene.

Jones made his studio-album debut with the band on The End of Heartache in 2004. He also appeared on As Daylight Dies in 2006 and the band’s second self-titled album, Killswitch Engage, in 2009.

The title track from The End of Heartache earned Killswitch Engage their first Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance. Jones’s powerful clean vocals and commanding stage presence became defining features of one of the band’s most commercially successful eras.

Jones left Killswitch Engage in 2012. He later returned as a guest, joining the band onstage and appearing with Jesse Leach on “The Signal Fire” from Atonement. After Killswitch Engage, Jones became the vocalist for Light the Torch, formerly known as Devil You Know.

Tom Gomes

Tom Gomes joined Killswitch Engage after Adam Dutkiewicz moved from drums to guitar in November 2001. Gomes took over touring drum duties as the band prepared for the release and touring cycle of Alive or Just Breathing.

Dutkiewicz had already recorded most of the drums for Alive or Just Breathing, while Gomes contributed additional percussion during the recording period and became the band’s live drummer. He remained with Killswitch Engage through much of 2002 and 2003.

Gomes left the band in 2003 and was replaced by Justin Foley in September of that year. His period with Killswitch Engage covered the transition from the band’s early four-piece configuration into the five-member lineup that would define its next era.

Pete Cortese

Pete Cortese is a member often missing from abbreviated histories of Killswitch Engage. The former Overcast guitarist joined Killswitch Engage briefly in 2000 and 2001, when the band was still developing its early lineup.

Cortese performed live with Killswitch Engage as a second guitarist and contributed to the writing of “Fixation on the Darkness,” which later appeared on Alive or Just Breathing. He left before the album’s completion as the band continued restructuring its lineup.

Killswitch Engage’s own official timeline identifies Cortese as a former member who joined the group during 2000 and 2001. His tenure was short, but it belongs in any complete history of the band’s membership.

Killswitch Engage’s Current Lineup

As of 2026, Killswitch Engage’s official lineup remains:

Jesse Leach – lead vocals

Adam Dutkiewicz – guitar and backing vocals

Joel Stroetzel – guitar and backing vocals

Mike D’Antonio – bass

Justin Foley – drums

This lineup recorded the band’s four most recent studio albums: Disarm the Descent, Incarnate, Atonement, and This Consequence.

More Killswitch Engage History

Killswitch Engage Band Members at a Glance

Member	Primary Role	Years / Era
Jesse Leach	Lead vocals	1999–2002, 2012–present
Adam Dutkiewicz	Drums originally; guitar and backing vocals	1999–present
Joel Stroetzel	Guitar, backing vocals	1999–present
Mike D’Antonio	Bass	1999–present
Justin Foley	Drums	2003–present
Howard Jones	Lead vocals	2002–2012
Tom Gomes	Drums	2001–2003
Pete Cortese	Guitar	2000–2001