BAND RESPONSE

“It’s a complex issue, but first and foremost we have to normalise it and recognise that there are a great many people suffering from these kinds of mental health problems. They’re not weird or pussies like, unfortunately, many metal people would have you believe. That’s why I started talking about it. People can look at my posts and say I’m a crybaby or whatever but I don’t care, I’m doing it for the people that need it. And there are many; some that don’t even realise they’re suffering. It’s such a shame that so many people who were connected to this music by the fact that they don’t fit in and they don’t feel normal have to take this abuse within our scene, but those people are just scared, they’re posers, and all we can do is to keep having the conversation in magazines and in our lives to make sure people understand that it isn’t a weakness.”

JESSE LEACH, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE