Phil Demmel

background vocals · guitar

b. 1967 in Dublin

Phil Demmel (born April 2, 1967) 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. He has also 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.

Early life

In 1996, Demmel auditioned for lead vocals with Sepultura as the replacement for Max Cavalera, but lost that position to Derrick Green. Demmel joined Machine Head shortly before the recording of the 2003 album Through the Ashes of Empires. He began touring with Machine Head in 2002. He was long time friends with Machine Head frontman Robb Flynn, either since or before they both played in Vio-lence. In 2007 Demmel appeared as a guest on the album DDP 4 Life with Chuck Billy's and Steve Souza's Dublin Death Patrol. 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, Demmel has since said that an existing heart condition was the cause. On the subject of his collapse whilst playing in Bristow, Virginia, he said,

"I've suffered from episodes of Cardiogenic Syncope for the last 17 years or so but (doctors) ran a series of tests that came up inconclusive. I hadn't had it happen for a while until last December in Italy, when I passed out roughly about the time my father passed away back in the States. The incident in Virginia felt similar to what has happened in the past" Demmel announced his engagement to Bleeding Through's keyboardist Marta Peterson in January 2012. Before that, he had two children. The two were married later that year. …