Editing Killswitch Engage (section)

===Lineup changes and ''Alive or Just Breathing'' (2001–2004)===
For a brief time in 2000 and 2001, ex-Overcast guitarist Pete Cortese joined Killswitch Engage, but left when he became a father.<ref name="Worldablaze" /> Killswitch Engage began writing new material for their second album in November 2001. Mixed in January at Backstage Studios by producer [[Andy Sneap]],<ref name="Archive News - November 2001">{{cite news
|title=Archive News – November 2001
|work=[[Blabbermouth.net]]
|date=November 6, 2001
|url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=239
|access-date=December 21, 2007
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071225194302/http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=239
|archive-date=December 25, 2007
|df=mdy-all
}}</ref> the album was titled ''[[Alive or Just Breathing]]'', after lyrics in the song "Just Barely Breathing". A music video for the single "My Last Serenade" increased the band's exposure, and the album peaked at number 37 on the [[Top Heatseekers]] chart.<ref name="Killswitch Engage biography">{{cite news
 |title       = Killswitch Engage biography
 |work   = [[Blabbermouth.net]]
 |url         = http://www.roadrunnerrecords.se/artist/Killswitch+Engage
 |access-date  = December 17, 2007
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20081201025932/http://www.roadrunnerrecords.se/artist/Killswitch+Engage
 |archive-date = December 1, 2008
 |df          = mdy-all
}}</ref>

Following ''Alive or Just Breathing''{{'}}s release, the album having been written and recorded for two guitarists, the band decided to expand and become a fivesome; Dutkiewicz moved to guitar and former Aftershock drummer Tom Gomes filled in the vacant drummer position. After Leach was married on April 20, 2002 and began touring again he fell into a [[depression (mood)|depression]]. Leach left the band a few days before the band was meant to play a show and sent the band members an e-mail telling them he had quit. On Leach's end, he remarked "I didn't have the mental energy to face them, or even call them on the phone rather. I was at a point in my life where I just didn't want to face any of them so I wrote them a long email explaining, like, I'm just done", while D'Antonio said in an interview that "after three years of hanging out with the dude, and considering him a brother, to just get an email was a little bit harsh."<ref name="Killswitch Engage Land New Frontman">{{cite news
|title=Killswitch Engage Land New Frontman
|work=Blabbermouth.net
|date=July 4, 2002
|url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=4557
|access-date=December 17, 2007
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071225194310/http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=4557
|archive-date=December 25, 2007
|df=mdy-all
}}</ref>

The band immediately started to search for a replacement vocalist and found [[Howard Jones (American musician)|Howard Jones]] of [[Blood Has Been Shed]]. Jones disliked the band's sound when he first heard it. He commented, "I was like, 'Meh.' I come from hardcore and dirtier metal, and Killswitch sounded so clean. But the more I listened to it, I realized there's some really good songs here".<ref name="Killswitch Engage - Decibel Magazine"/> After hearing about Leach's vocal problems, Jones contacted the band and was accepted as the replacement. [[Philip Labonte]] of [[All That Remains (band)|All That Remains]] tried out for lead vocals but lost to Jones, who had to quickly memorize seven songs for his debut at the 2002 [[Hellfest (American music festival)|Hellfest]].<ref name="Killswitch Engage - Decibel Magazine">{{cite magazine |title=''Killswitch Engage – Decibel Magazine'' |author=Parks, Andrew |magazine=Decibel Magazine |url=http://www.decibelmagazine.com/features/dec2006/killswitchengage.aspx?terms=Killswitch+Engage&searchtype=2&fragment=True |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071226042252/http://www.decibelmagazine.com/features/dec2006/killswitchengage.aspx?terms=Killswitch%2BEngage&searchtype=2&fragment=True |archive-date=December 26, 2007 |access-date=December 17, 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Bleeding Through]] vocalist [[Brandan Schieppati]] says that both he and [[James Hart (vocalist)|James Hart]] of [[Eighteen Visions]] were also asked to try out for the band in 2002,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.theprp.com/2022/08/29/news/bleeding-throughs-brandan-schieppati-says-he-was-asked-to-try-out-for-killswitch-engage-back-in-2002/ | title=Bleeding Through's Brandan Schieppati Says He Was Asked to Try Out for Killswitch Engage Back in 2002 | date=August 29, 2022 }}</ref> though Hart has contested this, saying "I don't think it's true. I remember it being talked about that they needed a new singer [but] neither of us lived on the East Coast... I was never like asked to try out or join the band and I don't think he was either."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jpx8RWKuVc | title=EP 24 - James Hart (Eighteen Visions / Ex-Burn Halo) &#124; It's Not a Phase | website=[[YouTube]] | date=April 20, 2024 }}</ref>

The new lineup played on the Road Rage tour in Europe in 2002 with [[36 Crazyfists]] and [[Five Pointe O]] {{Citation needed|date=September 2021}}. Touring continued through the New Year's Day, and in 2003 the first song to feature Jones, "When Darkness Falls", appeared on the soundtrack of the 2003 horror film ''[[Freddy vs. Jason]]''.<ref name="Freddy vs. Jason soundtrack">{{cite web
|title=Freddy vs. Jason soundtrack
|website=Amazon
|url=https://www.amazon.com/Freddy-vs-Jason-Various-Artists/dp/B0000ALFXD
|access-date=December 18, 2007}}</ref> Following the 2003 [[Ozzfest]], drummer Gomes left the band because he wished to spend more time with his wife, to pursue his band Something of a Silhouette, and because he was tired of touring.<ref name="For metalcore’s prodigal sons Killswitch Engage, The End of Heartache is just the beginning.">{{cite magazine
|title=''For metalcore's prodigal sons Killswitch Engage, The End of Heartache is just the beginning.''
|author=Terry, Nick
|magazine=Decibel Magazine
|url=http://www.decibelmagazine.com/features/jan2005/killswitch_engage.aspx
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060506004152/http://www.decibelmagazine.com/features/jan2005/killswitch_engage.aspx
|archive-date=May 6, 2006
|access-date=December 17, 2007}}</ref> He was replaced by [[Justin Foley]] of [[Blood Has Been Shed]], and Foley's first tour with the band was the [[MTV2]] [[Headbangers Ball]] in 2003.<ref name="Killswitch Engage AMG">{{cite web |title=Killswitch Engage |last=Ditzel |first=Eleanor |website=[[AllMusic]] |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/killswitch-engage-mn0000771792/biography |access-date=December 17, 2007}}</ref><ref name="Billboard Bits: EMI/WMG, Liza/VH1, 'Headbanger's Ball'">{{cite magazine
|title=Billboard Bits: EMI/WMG, Liza/VH1, 'Headbanger's Ball'
|magazine=Billboard.com
|date=September 22, 2003
|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/68976/billboard-bits-emiwmg-lizavh1-headbangers-ball
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071226181634/http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/68976/billboard-bits-emiwmg-lizavh1-headbangers-ball
|archive-date=December 26, 2007
|access-date=December 18, 2007}}</ref>