Philip Labonte

Phil Labonte
Labonte in 2011
Background information
Birth name	Philip Steven Labonte
Born	April 15, 1975 (1975-04-15)
Origin	Chicopee, Massachusetts, United States
Genres	Metalcore, mathcore, melodic death metal, heavy metal
Occupations	Singer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
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 metalcore band All That Remains and formerly of Shadows Fall.

History

Labonte's first band was in the mid-nineties by the name of 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 Steve Gonsalves (drums). Perpetual Doom released a seven track demo in 1995 called "Sorrow's End".

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 which 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" 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.^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]} All That Remains' most recent release, For We Are Many, was released in the fall of 2010.

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 when the earthquake began.

Discography

• Perpetual Doom – "Sorrow's End" (Demo) (1995)
• Shadows Fall – "To Ashes (EP)" (1997)
• Shadows Fall – "Somber Eyes to the Sky" (1997)
• All That Remains – "Behind Silence and Solitude" (2002)
• All That Remains – "This Darkened Heart" (2004)
• All That Remains – "The Fall of Ideals" (2006)
• All That Remains – "Overcome" (2008)
• All That Remains – "For We Are Many" (2010)

94X Fest 2011

Guest appearances

• Killswitch Engage – "Self Revolution"
• Killswitch Engage – "To The Sons Of Man"
• Killswitch Engage – "Hope Is..."
• Killswitch Engage – "Irreversal"
• 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"