Times of Grace was originally formed in 2008 by Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz and original Killswitch Engage vocalist Jesse Leach. Times of Grace began while Dutkiewicz was recovering from surgery, during which he wrote and recorded much of the music himself. Leach joined to contribute lyrics and vocals, and their debut album, The Hymn of a Broken Man, was released in 2011.
Following a tour, the band went on hiatus when Leach rejoined Killswitch Engage in 2012. After several years, they reunited and released their second album, Songs of Loss and Separation, in 2021. So what're the chances we get another Times of Grace record? According to Leach, low.
In a new interview with Loaded Radio, Leach said he'd have to convince Dutkiewicz to do another record as he felt like Songs Of Loss And Separation didn't really take off. Well, that and Dutkiewicz has about a thousand other projects going on.
"There are B-sides from the last record that never got released. But, yeah, the last conversation I had with Adam, his head is in such a different place right now, between us touring full time with Killswitch, his project with [former Killswitch Engage singer] Howard [Jones], Burn Eternal, and then he's also working on probably another Serpentine Dominion record, which I wrote on the lyrics for that [first] record too. [I was] honored to be able to pen lyrics for Corpsegrinder — one of the highlights of my career.
"But as far as the third times Of Grace, I would love that, but I don't foresee that happening anytime soon. I think in Adam's eyes — and I get it — the last record sort of just came and went, 'cause we released it during the pandemic. We weren't able to tour on it. It didn't feel like it had the success of the [first] record, but obviously we weren't able to tour on it. So you kind of can't gauge success based on that.
"That being said, I will say that I think for me personally there's a few songs on that record, Songs Of Loss And Separation, that I believe are the best vocal performances in both of our careers — hands down. I think Adam shines as not only a vocalist but a lyricist because he took a lot of the lyrics on himself.
"For the songs that he takes main vocals on, minus one, he wrote the lyrics, so he really sort of came into his own. Times Of Grace starting out as a project where he asked me to be a part of it 'cause he didn't know how to do X, Y, and Z, on that record he did what he set out to do. There are songs that he's owning it, and he could have easily done an EP on his own without me."
Leach added: "So I think over time, I'm hoping I can convince him that it was a success and that we could do more. And I would love nothing more than to do some live shows with a lineup that we choose. But we'll see. I have hope that it will eventually continue on, but we'll see what happens."
