14 Facts About Phil Demmel

Phil Demmel was born on April 2,1967 and is an American musician who played lead guitar in the heavy metal band Machine Head between 2002 and 2018, making him their longest running member in that position.

Phil Demmel has performed with other artists such as Vio-lence, Torque, Metal Allegiance, BPMD, Kerry King and Category 7, and briefly with Slayer, Nonpoint, Overkill, Lamb of God and Testament as a fill-in guitarist.

In 1996, Demmel auditioned for lead vocals with Sepultura as the replacement for Max Cavalera, but lost that position to Derrick Green.

Phil Demmel joined Machine Head shortly before the recording of the 2003 album Through the Ashes of Empires.

Phil Demmel was long time friends with Machine Head frontman Robb Flynn, either since or before they both played in Vio-lence.

In 2007 Phil Demmel appeared as a guest on the album DDP 4 Life with Chuck Billy's and Steve Souza's Dublin Death Patrol.

Phil Demmel has suffered from a loss of consciousness and fainting several times while playing live with Machine Head.

At first believed to be a side effect of dehydration, Phil Demmel has since said that an existing heart condition was the cause.

Phil Demmel announced his engagement to Bleeding Through's keyboardist Marta Peterson in January 2012.

In December 2018, Phil Demmel joined Slayer for a few shows on their final European tour, filling in for his friend Gary Holt who left the tour to be home with his dying father.

In 2020, Phil Demmel contributed a guest guitar solo to the song Drowning In My Head, by Scottish groove metal band Catalysis.

Phil Demmel filled in for Dave Linsk at an Overkill concert in New Jersey on November 13,2021, and two months later, he filled in for Willie Adler during Lamb of God's performance at ShipRocked.

Phil Demmel performed on Kerry King's 2024 solo debut album From Hell I Rise, as well as Category 7's self-titled debut album.

Phil Demmel first used Randy Rhoads models, then later in the 1990s he began using a white King V When he joined Machine Head he had his white V and a Jackson Warrior which can be seen in the videos for "Imperium" and "Days Turn Blue to Gray".