Philip Labonte

In the mid-'90s, 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 Marine Corps. Perpetual Doom remained inactive for nine 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 lineup. The band's debut record, Somber Eyes to the Sky, was a heavy metal and 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 he is. In 2010, he was asked to fill in as Killswitch's vocalist during the band's tour with The Devil Wears Prada and Dark Tranquillity 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 miles from the site of the earthquake, when the earthquake began.

Labonte has stated that he is a libertarian.[5] He expressed his support for gun rights,[6] drug legalization and criminal justice reform.[7]

He is for cutting the size of the military and was critical of U.S. intervention overseas and military bases in the Middle East; he stated: "You can be pro-military and not be pro-imperialism. You can be pro-military and pro-national events and still think that we have too many bases in foreign countries that we just don’t need."[8]

He supported Republican presidential candidates Ron Paul in 2012,[9] and Rand Paul in 2016.[10] In 2020, he endorsed Libertarian nominee Jo Jorgensen for the presidential election, while also expressing his detest for the party’s leadership.[11][12]

Labonte is an atheist.[13]

Phil has mentioned his influences range from Cannibal Corpse, Carcass, Grave,[14] Metallica, Iron Maiden, Pantera, and even a lot of 80s hair metal bands.[15] 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."[15] He mentioned via Twitter and Facebook that he is a huge fan of Bring Me the Horizon[16] and The Acacia Strain.[17] He also is known for being a huge fan of non-metal acts such as Sarah McLachlan, Garth Brooks,[14] Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Dr. Dre, Taylor Swift,[18] Carly Rae Jepsen, Fall Out Boy, and Skrillex.[19]