KILLSWITCH ENGAGE Bassist MIKE D'ANTONIO's Absence From INKCARCERATION Festival Explained

On September 10, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE performed without longtime bassist Mike D'Antonio at the Inkcarceration festival in Mansfield, Ohio. Filling in for him was the band's production manager Josh Mihlek.

D'Antonio's absence from the event was explained by KILLSWITCH ENGAGE singer Jesse Leach, who told Danny Wimmer Presents prior to taking the stage (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "What's unique now about this set is we found out yesterday before loading on the bus that our bass player got the 'VID. So we're down one guy. He's okay; he's just got the sniffles. Just 'cause we're being super precautious with this whole thing. So we have our production manager and our stage manager, who is also a dear friend of mine and a bass player of my punk band THE WEAPON, Josh, filling in on bass today. We're pulling out some of the easier [songs] from our past, just to help Josh play the set. So it is definitely gonna be a 'greatest-hits' [set]. We're pulling out a couple of the old ones too."

KILLSWITCH ENGAGE will return to the road this fall, touring with SLIPKNOT, FEVER 333 and CODE ORANGE as part of the "Knotfest Roadshow". The band will also appear at several key fall festivals.

KILLSWITCH ENGAGE's latest album, "Atonement", was released in August 2019 via Metal Blade Records in the U.S. and Sony Music Entertainment in the rest of the world. The disc features guest appearances by the band's former lead singer Howard Jones and TESTAMENT frontman Chuck Billy. It marks the band's third full-length release since the return of Leach, who rejoined the group in 2012.

In July, Leach and guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz released the second album from their TIMES OF GRACE project, "Songs Of Loss And Separation", via the band's own imprint label, Wicked Good Records, distributed by ADA Worldwide.