Nail the ToneKillswitch Engage

My Curse

Killswitch Engage · As Daylight Dies · 2006

The main riff is a drop C, palm-muted rhythm tone from a Caparison with an active EMG bridge humbucker, boosted by a Maxon OD808 into a high-gain head — Soldano SLO-100 and Mesa Triple Rectifier were both in the room — through a Mesa straight 4x12 with Vintage 30s, miked with an SM57. Set the gain lower than you think and let the 808 do the tightening: level up, drive off, so the low strings stay punchy instead of woolly. Keep mids up rather than scooped, kill the reverb, and double-track hard left and right for the record's width.

Where these numbers come from: worked out from the documented rig and the sound of the record

Tuning

Drop C (C G C F A D)

Two guitars: the clean intro figure is arpeggiated with delay before the same riff returns distorted with palm mutes.

Part: Riff

Guitar

  • Caparison PLM-3 · EMG 85 · bridge pickup
  • Caparison (model unspecified) · EMG 81 · bridge pickup

Amp

Soldano SLO-100

GAIN
6.5
BASS
4.0
MID
6.0
TREBLE
6.5
PRESENCE
4.5

Dutkiewicz described the album chain as guitar into a Soldano into a Mesa/Boogie cab; in a separate interview he named both the Soldano SLO head and Mesa Triple Rectifiers, so the exact head per track is contested, and one forum account claims a modded SLO-100 into a Mesa Stiletto 4x12 miked with a single SM57.

Amp

Mesa/Boogie Triple Rectifier

GAIN
7.5
BASS
3.0
MID
5.0
TREBLE
6.5
PRESENCE
6.0

Named alongside the Soldano for the As Daylight Dies sessions and long used by Stroetzel; run into Mesa straight 4x12s loaded with Celestion Vintage 30s.

Pedals

  • Maxon OD808 · overdrive (boost) · Drive 0-1, Tone 5, Level 8 — used as a clamp/boost, not for added dirt
  • Boss NS-2 · noise suppressor · Threshold just enough to kill hiss between chugs; Decay short
  • Eventide H949 · delay/modulation (studio outboard) · Short slap delay on the clean intro figure only; dry on the distorted riff

Tone character

tight, boost-clamped low end · forward mids · high gain but articulate · bright pick attack · dry, no reverb

medium

Steady palm-muted sixteenths in drop C with quick position shifts between two-note power chords — the challenge is picking-hand endurance and keeping the mutes tight and even at tempo.

Want this on your own amp?

These are the record's settings. Tell us what you play through and we'll translate every knob to the amp you actually own — free.

Adapt it to my gear

Sources