Killswitch Engage drummer Justin Foley recently shared how the band managed to create a merchandise design inspired by Guns N’ Roses’ ‘Appetite for Destruction’ without facing major consequences. Speaking to Appetite for Distortion, Foley revealed that they made a shirt featuring their own skull-faced characters, similar to GN’R’s iconic cross logo.
“We did have our best tour like whatever ripoff design shirt was, ‘Appetite For Destruction,’ the cross with the skulls,” the drummer admitted. “So Joel had drawn all of us. Joel’s really good character kind of drawer. He did all of us in that and it said ‘Appetite For Consumption.’
It was like the perfect knockoff shirt, it was really good,” Foley continued. “But our managers were like, ‘I can’t really sell that.’ It came out beautiful.” The limited-run design was only available for a short time, the rocker revealed. “It was like a tiny tiny run that we got away with I think maybe in Australia again for like a week and a half tour or something. So I don’t think there are a lot of them out there but it was a good looker.”
AI Controversy Surrounding ‘This Consequence’
Just days before Foley’s comments, Killswitch Engage bassist Mike D’Antonio had to address accusations that the cover art for their upcoming album This Consequence was AI-generated.
“The cover art was not done by A.I., no matter what people are saying on the Internet,” D’Antonio stated in an interview with Jaimunji. “I killed myself making that fricking cover art, so don’t tell me I just typed some words into a computer and it popped out, ’cause that’s — eight months later, that’s not what happened. It took ten thousand photos and a lot of time. So, I just wanted to put that out there.”
The bassist explained that the artwork took eight months and over ten thousand photos to complete. “I guess I should be flattered that people think it’s so good [that it could have been generated using A.I.]. But I’m not. I hate it. I don’t wanna be associated with A.I. Other people can do that. I’m fine with it. A.I. is just a whole new form of artwork. People can’t afford it or can’t be creative, they should definitely go gravitate towards that stuff.”
‘This Consequence’ is the band’s ninth studio album and their sixth with Jesse Leach since his return in 2012. It will be released on February 21, 2025, via Metal Blade.
