Howard Jones (born July 20, 1970) is an American heavy metal and

metalcore Metalcore is a broadly defined fusion genre combining elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk, originating in the 1990s United States and becoming popular in the 2000s. Metalcore typically has aggressive verses and melodic choruses, combined ...

vocalist best known as the former lead singer of

Killswitch Engage Killswitch Engage is an American metalcore band from Westfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist Jesse Leach, guitarists Joel Stroetzel and Adam Dutkiewicz, bassist Mike D'Antonio, and drummer Justin ...

and Blood Has Been Shed. He is the current vocalist of Light the Torch, formerly known as Devil You Know, and SION with YouTuber/guitarist

Jared Dines Jared Dines (born October 6, 1989) is an American YouTuber and musician who is known for metalcore-themed and adjacent videos, covers, parodies, and his own original music. He is a member of Canadian metalcore band Oni, and a frequent collaborat ...

. Jones' vocal performances have been described as "emotive and strident", and he has been referred to as "one of metalcore's finest singers".

Career

Jones started making music in the underground band Driven in 1996, releasing a single album. He later performed with Blood Has Been Shed from 1997 to 2004. In 2002, he joined

as their new vocalist after Jesse Leach left the band. During his time with Killswitch Engage, they released two gold-certified albums, '' The End of Heartache'' and '' As Daylight Dies'', as well as a second self-titled album. Jones left the band after nearly ten years in 2012, but remained a close friend. He would go on to collaborate with them again for the single " The Signal Fire" from their album ''

Atonement Atonement, atoning, or making amends is the concept of a person taking action to correct previous wrongdoing on their part, either through direct action to undo the consequences of that act, equivalent action to do good for others, or some othe ...

''. His later band Light the Torch would also tour with Killswitch Engage, and he would appear with the band onstage to perform the song, as well as other songs from his time with them, often as a duet alongside Leach. Jones started a new band Devil You Know with guitarist Francesco Artusato ( All Shall Perish) and drummer John Sankey (

Devolved Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories ...

Fear Factory Fear Factory is an American industrial metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1989. Throughout the band's career, they have released ten full-length albums and have evolved through a succession of sounds, all in their main style of industrial met ...

and Divine Heresy). After Sankey's departure and his attempt to claim the copyright of the band's name, the rest of the band members started again with a fresh name, Light the Torch, with the addition of a new drummer. In March 2021, Jones joined with heavy metal

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

and producer Hiram Hernandez to release "The Blade" as part of a new project named Sion. On December 3, 2024, Jones via his Instagram confirmed that He and former Killswitch Engage bandmate Adam Dutkiewicz were almost finished mixing a Debut Album for their new band called '' Burn Eternal''.

Personal life

Jones is an avid

fisherman A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million Commercial fishing, commercial and Artisan fishing, subsistence fishers and Fish farming, fi ...

and owns property on the

Red River of the North The Red River (), also called the Red River of the North () to differentiate it from the Red River of the South, Red River in the south of the continent, is a river in the north-central United States and central Canada. Originating at the confl ...

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

, Canada. He is a frequent guest on Jamey Jasta's podcast on the GaS Digital Network. Jones left Killswitch Engage in early 2012 to allow himself to manage his

type 2 diabetes Type 2 diabetes (T2D), formerly known as adult-onset diabetes, is a form of diabetes mellitus that is characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and relative lack of insulin. Common symptoms include increased thirst, frequent ...

, which was worsened by a hectic touring lifestyle. In 2014, Jones stated that his diabetes put him in a

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to Nociception, respond normally to Pain, painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal Circadian rhythm, sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate ...

for three days. In 2015, Jones revealed that he had struggled with

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion characterised by an unpleasant state of inner wikt:turmoil, turmoil and includes feelings of dread over Anticipation, anticipated events. Anxiety is different from fear in that fear is defined as the emotional response ...

and depression for a long time, which had been worsened by his rise to fame in Killswitch Engage. He revealed that he had come close to committing suicide in 2009, when he had aimed a .44 Magnum revolver at his head in his apartment in

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, and that the police had intervened after being notified by a concerned neighbor. In 2018, he teamed up with his former band to raise awareness for

mental health Mental health is often mistakenly equated with the absence of mental illness. However, mental health refers to a person's overall emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It influences how individuals think, feel, and behave, and how t ...

; the resulting song "The Signal Fire" appears on the 2019 album ''

''. Although formerly

straight edge Straight edge (sometimes abbreviated as sXe or signified by XXX or simply X) is a subculture of hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and other recreational drugs in reaction to the punk subculture's excesses. Some ...

, Jones now shares a passion for

medical cannabis Medical cannabis, medicinal cannabis or medical marijuana (MMJ) refers to cannabis products and cannabinoid molecules that are prescribed by physicians for their patients. The use of cannabis as medicine has a long history, but has not ...

with friend and fellow Killswitch Engage frontman Jesse Leach.

Discography

;Blood Has Been Shed *'' I Dwell on Thoughts of You'' (September 21, 1999, Ferret Records) *'' Novella of Uriel'' (February 20, 2001, Ferret Records) *''

Spirals In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving further away as it revolves around the point. It is a subtype of whorled patterns, a broad group that also includes concentric objects. Two-dimensional A two-dimension ...

'' (March 11, 2003, Ferret Records) ;Killswitch Engage *'' The End of Heartache'' (May 11, 2004,

Roadrunner Records Roadrunner Records is a Dutch–American record label focused on Heavy metal music, heavy metal and hard rock music. Founded in the Netherlands in 1980, it is now a division of Warner Music Group and is based in New York City. Formerly seen as ...

) *'' As Daylight Dies'' (November 21, 2006, Roadrunner Records) *''

'' (June 30, 2009, Roadrunner Records) ;Light the Torch (formerly Devil You Know) * '' The Beauty of Destruction'' (April 25, 2014,

Nuclear Blast Nuclear Blast Records is a German record label with subsidiary, subsidiaries located in Germany, the United States and Brazil. It was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Donzdorf. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on ...

) * '' They Bleed Red'' (November 6, 2015, Nuclear Blast) * '' Revival'' (March 30, 2018, Nuclear Blast) * ''You Will Be the Death of Me'' (June 25, 2021, Nuclear Blast) ;SION * ''SION'' (November 26, 2021, Independent)

Guest appearances

*Fragment – ''Answers'' ("Inertia") *First ever guest appearance * 36 Crazyfists – '' Rest Inside the Flames'' ("Elysium") * Demon Hunter – '' Summer of Darkness'' ("Our Faces Fall Apart") * Eighteen Visions – ''

Vanity Vanity is the excessive belief in one's own abilities or attractiveness compared to others. Prior to the 14th century, it did not have such narcissistic undertones, and merely meant ''futility''. The related term vainglory is now often seen as ...

'' ("One Hell of a Prize Fighter") * Roadrunner United – ''All-Star Sessions'' ("The Dagger") * Throwdown – '' Vendetta'' ("The World Behind") * Ill Bill – '' The Hour of Reprisal'' ("Babylon") * Every Time I Die – '' Last Night in Town'' ("Punch-Drunk Punk Rock Romance") * Believer – ''

Gabriel In the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), Gabriel ( ) is an archangel with the power to announce God's will to mankind, as the messenger of God. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Quran. Many Chris ...

'' ("The Brave") * Asking Alexandria – '' From Death to Destiny'' ("Until the End") *First guest appearance since leaving Killswitch Engage. *

Within Temptation Within Temptation is a Dutch symphonic metal band founded in April 1996 by vocalist Sharon den Adel and guitarist Robert Westerholt. They have been classified by critics as gothic metal and symphonic metal, although each album contains other infl ...

– '' Hydra'' ("Dangerous") *Jasta - ''The Lost Chapters'' ("Chasing Demons") * Violent New Breed – ''Bad Reputation'' ("Bury Me") *

– ''

'' ("The Signal Fire") *Jasta – ''The Lost Chapters Volume 2'' ("Heaven Gets What It Wants") * Crobot – ''Rat Child'' ("Kiss it Goodbye") * Eyes Set to Kill – ''Damna'' ("Face the Rain") * Ov Sulfur – ''The Burden Ov Faith'' ("Wide Open") *

ONI An ( ) is a kind of ''yōkai'', demon, orc, ogre, or troll in Japanese folklore. They are believed to live in caves or deep in the mountains or in hell. Oni are known for their superhuman strength and have been associated with powers like th ...

– ''The Silver Line'' ("Aura") *Crobot – "Obsidian". September 13, 2024 *Mark Morton – Ether EP ("Love My Enemy") *Body Count – Merciless ("Live Forever")

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Howard 1970 births 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers 20th-century African-American male singers African-American rock singers American baritones American heavy metal singers Singers with a three-octave vocal range Living people Musicians from Columbus, Ohio Musicians from Ohio Killswitch Engage members Blood Has Been Shed members 20th-century American male singers 21st-century American male singers 21st-century African-American male singers Metalcore singers