Last week it was announced that Andy Horn would be replacing Chance Garnette on the bands european jaunt with Goatwhore. Having previously sung with Cannabis Corpse and now the band themselves it seems that the singer will be more than capable, however this left some scratching their proverbial heads in thinking what exactly has happened to Skeletonwitch singer Chance Garnette. Having been unlisted from the bands Facebook profile, then hearing this announcement we all feared the worst. Especially after the singer had left previously on the Amon Amarth tour last year, where the band had to finish up the tour instrumentally. At long last the now ex-frontman of Skeletonwitch spoke out…

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. 

Pretty strong words there, though I do agree slightly with Garnette that things could have been handled differently, perhaps had the singer been reproached about his recent behaviour then maybe a scenario like this would not have happened. Good on the singer for realising that he has a problem and needed help however, it will be interesting to see what the next step will be for the band now. Is Andy Horn solely stepping in for this European tour or is he going to be the bands new singer? I would imagine that this will be a sort of “trial” for Horn, then later on in the year the band are scheduled to release a new album, perhaps they might add a new dynamic to the mix, who knows? It’s an argument that doesn’t have a happy ending whatever way you look at it. Though the singer was wrong in doing what he did to extreme’s so were the band to a certain extent. Having said this, we don’t know the extent that the band had gone to speak with Garnette. Perhaps they had tried multiple times to get through to the singer an nothing changed, so we can’t exactly be too judgemental. Either way Skeletonwitch will be hitting up Europe with both Goatwhore and Mortals throughout April!