Philip Labonte

Phil Labonte
Background information
Birth name	Philip Steven Labonte
Born	(1975-04-15) April 15, 1975
Origin	Chicopee, Massachusetts, United States
Genres	Metalcore, mathcore, melodic death metal, heavy metal, hard rock
Occupation(s)	Singer
Instruments	Vocals, piano, guitar, bass, keyboards
Years active	1995–present
Associated acts	All That Remains, Shadows Fall, Hero Envy, Killswitch Engage, Perpetual Doom

Philip Steven Labonte (Born April 15, 1975) is an American musician from Massachusetts, best known as the lead singer of the American melodic metalcore band All That Remains. Labonte is the former lead vocalist for Shadows Fall and was the touring vocalist for Killswitch Engage in early 2010.^[1][2]

History

In the mid-90's Labonte was in a band called Perpetual Doom. The band played death metal and its members were teenagers at the time. The original vocalist of Perpetual Doom was Scott Estes. Labonte, however, took over the vocal position in 1993 after Estes joined the Navy, and also played the guitar. In August 1993, Phil left to join the United States Marine Corps. Perpetual Doom remained inactive for 9 months in Phil's absence. In June 1994 upon Phil's return, Perpetual Doom resumed writing with increased intensity. Other members included Ken Robert (vocals, guitar, now of Split Shift), Bill Brault (bass, now in Split Shift), and Stephen "Steve" Gonsalves (drums), who went on to become a paranormal investigator and future cast member of Ghost Hunters. Perpetual Doom released a seven track demo in 1995 called "Sorrow's End".^[3]

Labonte left Perpetual Doom, however, to be the lead vocalist for Shadows Fall. Labonte did not play guitar for this band like he did in Perpetual Doom, and was Shadows Fall's first vocalist completing the band's first line up. The band's debut record, Somber Eyes to the Sky, was a melodic death metal album that was released in 1997 through Lifeless Records, a label owned by Shadows Fall guitarist Matt Bachand. Labonte was asked to leave Shadows Fall due to "musical differences"^[4] and was replaced with current vocalist Brian Fair, leaving Somber Eyes To The Sky as the only Shadows Fall record with Labonte on vocals.

In 1998, Labonte formed All That Remains as a side project. After leaving Shadows Fall, All That Remains became his main priority. Their debut record, Behind Silence and Solitude, was released in 2002 through Prosthetic Records/Razor & Tie. A short time later, Labonte tried out for Killswitch Engage after the departure of their vocalist, Jesse Leach. Although he lost the audition to now former Killswitch Engage and former Blood Has Been Shed vocalist Howard Jones, the band told him he was a close second. In Killswitch Engage's DVD "(Set This) World Ablaze", Labonte states that Jones is a better singer than him. In 2010, he was asked to fill in as Killswitch's vocalist during the band's tour with The Devil Wears Prada and Dark Tranquility after Howard had to drop off the beginning of the tour.

In March 2011, Labonte appeared on CNN in an interview where he discussed his experiences during the 2011 earthquake in Japan. All That Remains was playing a concert in Osaka, Japan, nearly 800 km from the site of the earthquake, when the earthquake began.

Influences

Phil has mentioned his influences range from Cannibal Corpse, Carcass, Grave,^[5] Metallica, Iron Maiden, Pantera, and even a lot of 80s hair metal bands.^[6] In an interview, Phil said: “I fell in love with the whole glam world. And then like death metal too, Cannibal Corpse…it’s very wide range of what people like, you know, Justin Timberlake…all that stuff.”^[7] He mentioned via Twitter and Facebook that he is a huge fan of Bring Me The Horizon,^[8] and The Acacia Strain.^[9] He also is known for being a huge fan of non-metal acts such as: Sarah McLachlan, Garth Brooks,^[10]Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Dr. Dre, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift,^[11] Carly Rae Jepsen, Fall Out Boy, and Skrillex^[12]

Discography

With Perpetual Doom

• Sorrow's End (Demo) (1995)

With Shadows Fall

• To Ashes (EP) (1997)
• Somber Eyes to the Sky (1997)

All That Remains

• Behind Silence and Solitude (2002)
• This Darkened Heart (2004)
• The Fall of Ideals (2006)
• Overcome (2008)
• For We Are Many (2010)
• A War You Cannot Win (2012)
• The Order of Things (2015)

Guest appearances

• Killswitch Engage – "Self Revolution", "To The Sons Of Man", "Hope Is...", "Irreversal (re-recored)"
• Ligeia – "Makin' Love to a Murderer"
• Flatlined – "Parallel Reflections"
• The Autumn Offering – "Homecoming"
• The Acacia Strain – "Predator; Never Prey"
• Tarja Turunen – "Dark Star"
• Unearth – "Grave of Opportunity" (music video)
• Jasta – "Something You Should Know"

References