• facebook
  • twitter
  • rss

ALL THAT REMAINS Singer Will Not Be Joining KILLSWITCH ENGAGE

January 4, 2012

ALL THAT REMAINS frontman Phil Labonte has shot down rumors that he will join KILLSWITCH ENGAGE as the replacement for that band's newly departed vocalist Howard Jones.

Labonte filled in for Jones during KILLSWITCH ENGAGE's early 2010 North American headlining tour after Howard was deemed "unfit" to be on the road.

Following today's announcement that KILLSWITCH ENGAGE had "decided to continue on without Howard Jones" as the band's lead singer, Labonte posted the following short message on his official Facebook page: "No, I'm not gonna be singing for [KILLSWITCH ENGAGE]."

In a March 2010 interview with Metal Assault, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE guitarist Joel Stroetzel stated about his band's decision to hire Labonte for the aforementioned tour, "Initially, we just had Phil come out with the thought that we had three shows we had to get through, then we'd postpone the tour and come back and do it with Howard in a few months. But it went so well with Phil the first few shows that everybody was so stoked. We have a lot of the same fans, I think, so a lot of people were psyched to see him. If it was Joe Schmoe, it wouldn't work, but since it's Phil, it works. And like I said, the shows were so much fun and Phil was willing to do the whole tour."

When asked if KILLSWITCH ENGAGE had a chance to rehearse extensively with Labonte before he came aboard as Jones' temporary replacement, Joel said, "No, he was thrown, thrown to the wolves. We called him, I think, at three in the morning and we were like, 'Hey, can you fly to Florida in about five hours?' He was like, 'Yeah, I'll be there!' So we did like a quick soundcheck with him, went through the songs that he wasn't familiar with, and we played that night. That was pretty much it. So, yeah, obviously after a couple of shows he started to get more comfortable."

Find more on
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).