All That Remains guitarist Oli Herbert passed away in 2018 under circumstances that are part of an ongoing investigation. The band has since released Herbert's final album, titled Victims Of The New Disease, as well as tapped ex-Born Of Osiris guitarist Jason Richardson to stand in for Herbert on their current tour.
In an interview with Decibel, frontman Phil Labonte says he hasn't quite processed touring with Herbert. Labonte adds that the band has not discussed if Richardson will be asked to join.
"I don’t know. It’s tough for me to answer that kind of question. It’s still really new. In the 20 years’ time that All That Remains has been a band, there’s only been one tour where Oli wasn’t ever playing lead guitar. I don’t know how to process that yet, I’m not sure how I feel about it yet."
"It was one tour and we don’t have someone that’s actually “the guy” yet. We haven’t discussed whether Jason wants to join the band full time, we haven’t discussed whether or not we want to have Jason join the band. We’re not even at that point yet, so I don’t know.”
Labonte also spoke on how Richardson came to be their choice of a live guitarist. Labonte says Herbert and Richardson were friends, and that an All That Remains cover Richardson did cemented him as a solid choice for the band.
“Well we had toured with Born of Osiris when Jason was in that band and him and Oli had hit it off and become buddies. I’m not sure exactly how much they stayed in contact, but I knew that they would hang out and talk guitar and listen to music and stuff, so when Oli passed away, Jason did a cover of him playing ‘Chiron‘ and then Aaron [Patrick], our bass player, reached out to Jason and said ‘Hey, you sounded really good. Would you be interested in filling in if we went and needed you to come aboard?’
He was like ‘Yeah, dude, I’d love to’ and he did an amazing job. He came in and nailed everything and really kind of saved our ass. He made it easier on us when it comes to the grieving side of it. It relieved pressure about this stuff, the business side that we had planned.
The personal side is easier to handle and cope with. The more pressures you can relieve on a situation, the better.”
All That Remains will tour with Attila, Escape The Fate and Sleep Signals starting later this month. Get those dates below.
Feb. 28 – Reading, PA – Reverb
Mar. 01 – Halethorpe, MD – Fish Head Cantina
Mar. 02 – Worcester, MA – The Palladium
Mar. 03 – Hartford, CT – The Webster
Mar. 05 – Clifton Park, NY – Upstate Concert Hall
Mar. 06 – Syracuse, NY – Westcott Theater
Mar. 08 – Indianapolis, IN – The Citadel
Mar. 09 – Ringle, WI – Q and Z Expo Center
Mar. 10 – Belvidere, IL – The Apollo Theatre
Mar. 12 – Minneapolis, MN – Cabooze
Mar. 13 – Milwaukee, WI – The Rave
Mar. 14 – Des Moines, IA – Wooly's
Mar. 15 – St. Louis, MO – Delmar Hall
Mar. 16 – Sioux City, IA – Anthem @ Hard Rock Hotel (All That Remains only)
Mar. 17 – Lincoln, NE – Bourbon Theatre
Mar. 18 – Denver, CO – The Oriental Theater
Mar. 20 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Depot
Mar. 21 – Billings, MT – Pub Station Ballroom
Mar. 22 – Spokane, WA – Knitting Factory
Mar. 23 – Boise, ID – Revolution Music Hall
Mar. 24 – Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom
Mar. 26 – Sacramento, CA – Ace Of Spades
Mar. 27 – Santa Ana, CA – The Observatory
Mar. 28 – Ventura, CA – Ventura Theater
Mar. 29 – Mesa, AZ – Club Red
Mar. 30 – Albuquerque, NM – El Rey
Apr. 01 – Austin, TX – Come and Take It Live
Apr. 02 – Dallas, TX – Gas Monkey
Apr. 03 – Oklahoma City, OK – Diamond Ballroom
Apr. 05 – Lafayette, LA – The District
Apr. 06 – Destin, FL – Club L.A.
Apr. 07 – Orlando, FL – Hard Rock Live (no Attila)
