Tag Archives: Chance Garnette

Skeletonwitch – Well Of Despair

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Skeletonwitch Well Of Despair abum cover ghostcultmag

Fandom is a curious thing. People feel very intense about about a band and sometimes fret when there is a change. Bands change members all the time. That is the nature of people trying to play music for a living under mixed circumstances at the best of times. For thirteen years Skeletonwitch has been one of the most heavy and consistent bands in the American metal scene. They have made some great records, opened tours for major names, and spread their sound around the globe. Fans certainly didn’t want to accept the change when the band suspended and removed former singer Chance Garnette, due to his personal issues, and much chatter on line centered around the future prospects of new music. Cleverly the band didn’t reveal new vocalist Adam Clemans (Wolvhammer) until just recently and now have debuted the first new music with Adam, in the form of new single Well of Despair (Prosthetic).

Although this track s but a small taste of what is to be expected later this year in the form of a full EP, ‘Well of Despair’ was recorded at Baltimore’s Developing Nations with Kevin Bernsten (Noisem, Magrudergrind, Mutilation Rites) earlier this year. Musically the track is as much of a declaration of intent as anything else. Galloping drum beats pound from the speakers. All the things that made Skeletonwitch great, this track has it. It’s a quick slab of brutal thrashy black-metal inspired riffage that is sure to make fans headbang like mad and take notice. Clemmons sounds excellent. He has a gnarly growl and a lung power equal to Chance’s. It will be great to hear him tackle the back catalog during the forthcoming Decibel Tour with Abbath, High On Fire, and Tribulation. But ‘Well Of Despair’ is a powerful introduction to the next phase of the band. If you had any doubts about the future of the band, throw them out the window now!

 

Skeletonwitch 2016 new band photo ghostcultmag

7.0/10

KEITH CHACHKES

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Ex-Skeletonwitch Vocalist Issues Statement On His Situation

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Skeletonwitch. Photo Credit: Hillarie Jason

Skeletonwitch. Photo Credit: Hillarie Jason

Skeletonwitch vocalist Chance Garnette issued a statement clarifying his disappearance from the band with a statement that was issued. Without mentioning the alleged Worcester, MA assault and battery charge against a family member, he gives his side of the story on what happened. In the meantime, the band are resuming their European tour with Battlemaster vocalist Andy Horn, and have yet to issue their own statement. Read on below.

“Hey everyone, Chance here. So, let me get into this whole thing in regards to what’s up between myself and Skeletonwitch right now.

To put it simply, I have a drinking problem. I regularly became a drunk asshole off stage and was fired. Did I just up and split in the middle of tour, leaving the band to solider on as heroes instrumentally as indicated by all the reports? No. I was left behind, unsure about anything, with no communication. It was my girlfriend who told me they were firing me from the band. Two days later, when I could get someone to take my call, I asked “Is this it? Am I fired?”. I was told, “Right now, you’re not the singer in Skeletonwitch” and that the band would be finishing the tour instrumentally.
If I had been given the opportunity beforehand to change what was wrong, or been told “Dude, you’re too much, we can’t take this shit, shape up or hit the bricks” then of course I would have. I mean, I’ve poured everything into this band for 11 years. It’s been the first thing I think of when I wake up and last thing I think of before bed for that long. You know, the last person to see who’s being an asshole is the person being the asshole. That was me, Guilty. I should have been able to recognize my own mistakes and faults and be able to fix my own shit. I’m not blaming anyone for not coming to me with an ultimatum about my behavior.

I wish something like that would have happened, it didn’t, what can I do? I’m not making an excuse for myself here, I own this; it’s all mine. What do they say? Wish in one hand and shit in the other and what are you left holding? Well I’m holding it…with both hands.

Did I go home to address “serious issues”? Yes, absolutely. Upon arriving home I immediately sought help via a local intensive out patient program because if there was to be any hope of a future with the band, I had to change, no question. There’s no excuse for blacking out and turning into a raging lunatic, not remembering what you have done the night before. Honestly, I still have no recollection of certain events even as I type this is. Look, I admit it; I fucked up. I can’t change the past. I can only change the present and the future and am continuing to try to do just that.

I apologize to everyone that didn’t get the full Skeletonwitch live show during the last half of the Amon Amarth tour late last year and to everyone in Europe that was expecting to see me front the band during the current festival/headline run. Believe me, I wanted to be there then and I want to be there now. I found out Skeletonwitch had a fill in vocalist for the current tour the same way everyone else did a couple days ago: on the internet.

So, that’s that, guys. I don’t feel I am finished artistically. I don’t feel my well has run dry lyrically. I’m still “Breathing the Fire”. I’m sitting on notebooks full of ideas and I hope I get to perform for you guys again in the not so distant future. If I get that opportunity, I won’t let you guys down. Thanks for everything, I hope to see all of you again.
Chance“


Skeletonwitch – Ghoul – Black Anvil: Live At the Sinclair, Cambridge MA

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 SW-admat-6-2014

 

Skeletonwitch continues up their climb up the modern metal ladder. They seem to be a band generally liked by many, with no real haters as far as I can tell. Their infectious combination of blackened thrash metal frames them as a crossover act for fans of many genres of metal. It doesn’t hurt that they are a tight live act and a lot of fun to see on stage. Waiting patiently for a legit headline tour, not just off dates here and there, the band promised to reward faithful fans with a deep set list. I rolled with Ghost Cult photog Meg Loyal, and we got there early, mingling with a lot of Boston Metaldom’s usual suspects.

Black Anvil (11)

 

Starting things off right was Black Anvil. They immediately ripped Cambridge a new hole from the jump with the lively, caustic stage show and brutal sounds. I was an immediate fan of their album Hail Death (Relapse) which is a modern masterpiece, and it took me by surprise as the venerable NYDM and NYBM scene, although historically great, hasn’t turned out a band that really captured my heart a long time. I think even the early crowd in the venue was shocked at how killer their set was. They played with the energy and power of a headliner and really inspired the early crowd to move around a bit and hurt each other. This is a band definitely on the rise, so don’t sleep on them.

Ghoul (22)

 

 

Ghoul is always a lot of fun live and they were the perfect band for the middle slot on this tour. Our heroes from Creepsylvania always come to party with GWAR-inspired fake blood, and all kinds of crazy characters as a part of their performance. More than anything, Ghoul is a killer band with sick chops playing a fun take on a deathly take on old-school Bay Area thrash metal. There were circle pits galore, crazy breakdown and mass hilarity ensued. They definitely had their own core of fans in the house based on all the Ghoul merch being sported (fail!), and also bought and toted (good job!). It’s rare that you laugh as much as you headbang at a show. GWAR (RIP Dave Brockie) is one band that has always done that for me and Ghoul carries on that tradition to the hilt. Do yourself a solid and go pick up their latest EP Hang Ten (Tankcrimes) or any of their albums really.

 

Skeletonwitch (25)

 

Time to die for the Witch! The thing I like about The Sinclair is they do run a tight ship. The change over was fast and the band hit the stage with a quickness. There isn’t a bad place to watch the show from in the entire room and I had a good spot. I was interested to see if the crowd had any energy left at all since the Ghoul set was a non-stop mosh-pit frenzy. When Skeletonwitch opened up with ‘I Am of Death (Hell Has Arrived)’, their past go-to closer, it was a glorious moment. It can be hard for bands to break their own mold and change things up, so kudos to them for that. This was a portend of things to come with an excellent set list of “hits” and deep cuts they promised.

 

 

 

And what a set is was! The band brandished their musical might this time with a relentless performance that definitely had the mark of greatness. The fans drank, danced, headbanged and screamed along with every word. Chance Garnette and crew whipped the crowd into a frenzy with cut after cut from their repertoire. Chance paced the stage, inciting more and more fury from the pit and the rest of the crowd. Even up in the rafters, you could see people were feeling it too. This was an awesome night rushing towards an awesome finish; as the band closed out the night with mostly old-school tracks. On this evening if you were in the house, you knew you were witnessing one of the ascendant bands in the American metal scene. Hailz!

 

 

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Skeletonwitch Set List:

I Am of Death (Hell Has Arrived)

More Cruel Than Weak

From a Cloudless Sky

Burned From Bone

Upon Wings of Black

Choke Upon Betrayal

Infernal Resurrection

Fire from the Sky

Stand Fight and Die

Beneath Dead Leaves

Serpents Unleashed

This Horrifying Force (The Desire to Kill)

Crushed Beyond Dust

Unending, Everliving

Cleaver of Souls

Beyond the Permafrost

Baptized in Flames

Limb from Limb

Repulsive Salvation

Of Ash and Torment

Within My Blood

Skeletonwitch on Facebook

Ghoul on Facebook

Black Anvil on Facebook

 

WORDS: KEITH (KEEFY) CHACHKES

PHOTOS: MEG LOYAL PHOTOGRAPHY