Since Jesse Leach officially returned to the group, Killswitch Engage have been working on a new album in between live performances. And it looks like progress on said album is going pretty well.

During an interview with Paige Montgomery from Alternative Revolt Magazine at the Trespass America Festival’s kickoff date in Broomfield, CO Friday night (July 13), Leach revealed that Killswitch Engage have “two songs completed for our new record and another 12-13 to go that I’m gonna finish up in the Fall…” The entire interview can be heard in the video after the jump, but when asked whether he had to re-record anything his predecessor (and previous replacement) Howard Jones did with the band before leaving, the singer said the following:

“Thankfully no, thankfully it was just music; it had no lyrics, no vocals —Howard hadn’t attempted to do anything—so it was a nice, clean slate. Brand new record, fresh, fast, heavy… I couldn’t be more stoked to sing on the record.

As a matter of fact, once I signed up to do the audition for those guys, we chummed around, had beers and they took me back to Adam’s house and we listened to the record and that totally sold me. When I heard the record, I was like, ‘I’ve gotta sing on this.’”

Hearing how excited Leach is about the new material makes us even more eager to hear his first album with the band in about ten years (yup, Alive Or Just Breathing turned ten years old last May). While Leach revealed that they may eventually add new material into their set list, they most likely won’t be playing new songs this early into Trespass America. Hopefully, though, it won’t take Leach long to finish his parts following the tour.

You can hear audio from Leach’s interview in the video after the jump.

[clip via Idobi Network]