Michael D'Antonio (born May 19, 1973) is best known as the bass guitarist and founder of

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

metal band

Killswitch Engage Killswitch Engage is an American metalcore band from Westfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1999 after the disbanding of Overcast (band), Overcast and Aftershock. Killswitch Engage's current lineup consists of vocalist Jesse Leach, guitarists Joe ...

and of the band

Overcast Overcast or overcast weather, as defined by the World Meteorological Organization, is the meteorological condition of clouds obscuring at least 95% of the sky. However, the total cloud cover must not be entirely due to obscuring phenomena near t ...

Career

D'Antonio's writing influences include old

New York Hardcore New York hardcore (also known as NYHC) is both the hardcore punk music created in New York City and the subculture and lifestyle (sociology), lifestyle associated with that music. New York hardcore grew out of the hardcore scene established in Wa ...

bands like

Cro-Mags Cro-Mags are an American hardcore punk band from New York City. The band, which has a strong cult following, has released six studio albums, with the first two considered the most influential. With a Hare Krishna background, they were among th ...

Leeway Leeway is the amount of drift motion to leeward of an object floating in the water caused by the component of the wind vector that is perpendicular to the object’s forward motion.Bowditch. (1995). The American Practical Navigator. Pub. No. 9. ...

Madball Madball is an American New York hardcore band formed in New York City, that originated in the late 1980s as a side project of Agnostic Front. The band developed after Agnostic Front's front man Roger Miret would let his younger half-brother Fr ...

and

Agnostic Front Agnostic Front is an American hardcore punk band from New York City. Founded in 1980, the band is considered an important influence on the New York hardcore scene, as well as a pioneer of the crossover thrash genre. History First era (1980–19 ...

, and he cites

Cliff Burton Clifford Lee Burton (February 10, 1962 – September 27, 1986) was an American musician who was the bassist for heavy metal band Metallica from 1982 until his death in 1986. He performed on ''Kill 'Em All'' (1983), '' Ride the Lightning'' (1984 ...

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

band

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

and Harley Flanagan of the

as personal influences. D'Antonio formed the band Killswitch Engage after the demise of his band

in 1998. All of Killswitch Engage's album artwork and tour merchandise is designed by D'Antonio, who is a

graphic artist A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, p ...

. D'Antonio's company, DarkicoN design, produces artwork for bands such as

Shadows Fall Shadows Fall is an American metalcore band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1996. Although Shadows Fall has experienced several line-up changes, for most of its recording career, Shadows Fall has been composed of Jon Donais (lead guitar, b ...

Unearth Unearth is an American metalcore band from Boston, Massachusetts. Formed in 1998, the group has released seven studio albums. History Early career (1998–2002) Unearth was formed by Trevor Phipps, Buz McGrath, Ken Susi, Mike Rudberg, a ...

, All That Remains, New England Metal and Hardcore Fest and Crowbar. D'Antonio's latest side project band is Death Ray Vision.

Equipment

D'Antonio uses his signature

Ibanez is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki were one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United States and Europe, as ...

basses and an EBS bass rig.

Discography

Overcast

* ''

Expectational Dilution Overcast was an American metalcore band that started in the early 1990s, but broke up in 1998 after an unsuccessful tour. The band is often regarded as pioneers of metalcore. In 2006, they reunited to play the 2006 installment of the New Englan ...

'' (1994) * '' Fight Ambition to Kill'' (1997) * ''

Reborn to Kill Again ''Reborn to Kill Again'' is an album by the American metalcore band Overcast, which was released on August 19, 2008. It contains eleven classic tracks and two unreleased songs. "Root Bound Apollo" was first released on Shadows Fall's ''Of One B ...

'' (2008)

Killswitch Engage

* ''

'' (2000) * ''

Alive or Just Breathing ''Alive or Just Breathing'' is the second studio album by American metalcore band Killswitch Engage. It was released on May 21, 2002, through Roadrunner Records. ''Alive or Just Breathing'' was Killswitch Engage's first album on Roadrunner and ...

'' (2002) * ''

The End of Heartache ''The End of Heartache'' is the third studio album by American metalcore band Killswitch Engage. It was released on May 11, 2004, through Roadrunner Records. It is the first album to feature lead vocalist Howard Jones and drummer Justin Foley. ...

'' (2004) * ''

As Daylight Dies ''As Daylight Dies'' is the fourth studio album by American metalcore band Killswitch Engage. It was released on November 21, 2006 through Roadrunner Records. It was produced by Adam Dutkiewicz and Joel Stroetzel. Background and release The a ...

'' (2006) * ''

'' (2009) * '' Disarm the Descent'' (2013) * ''

Incarnate Incarnation literally means ''embodied in flesh'' or ''taking on flesh''. It refers to the conception and the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form or the appearance of a god as a human. If capitalized, it is the union of divinit ...

'' (2016) * ''

Atonement Atonement (also atoning, to atone) 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 other ex ...

'' (2019)

Death Ray Vision

* Get Lost or Get Dead (EP) (2011) * We Ain't Leavin' Till You're Bleedin' (2013)

References

External links

Killswitch Engage official website
Retrieved January 27, 2005.
Ibanez Signature ''D'Antonio MDB1'' Bass Guitar

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Antonio, Mike American heavy metal bass guitarists American male bass guitarists Living people 1973 births Killswitch Engage members 21st-century American bass guitarists 21st-century American male musicians 20th-century American bass guitarists 20th-century American male musicians