Phil Demmel has announced his final performance with VIO-LENCE, set to take place this Sunday, February 11, in São Paulo, Brazil
This show marks the culmination of VIO-LENCE‘s Latin American tour alongside EXHORDER.
The 56-year-old guitarist, who co-founded the esteemed San Francisco Bay Area thrash metal band in 1985, shared his thoughts on the future of the group in a video message posted on his social media earlier today, Monday, February 5.
Soon after it was revealed that Phil Demmel was one of the musicians in Kerry King‘s (SLAYER) new solo project, the guitarist revealed to his Instagram followers (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I am announcing that this Sunday will be my last show with VIO-LENCE.
“The timing is weird, I know, and it doesn’t really coincide with the Kerry thing,” he clarified. “It’s not that, ‘Oh, that got announced, so now I’m quitting this, stopping this,’ whatever you wanna [call it], retiring from, whatever. It’s been, I guess, in the works for a bit. My status has been undefined for a while. I’m kind of doing things that I felt comfortable or fell into my schedule or whatever. But given just the latest state of the band and where I feel I belong with it or feel tied to it, I just think that my time is at an end.”
Demmel continued: “I’ll always identify with the band. Me and [drummer] Perry [Strickland] started this band in high school. It’s cool to be going to places that we haven’t been.
“I’m feeling that [VIO-LENCE singer] Sean [Killian] is… We’ve gone far on different pages. I guess we’ve always been on different pages. But I don’t feel like I fit in with what the objective of this is anymore. And in light of some current events [laughs], I felt compelled to make the break.”
Phil went on to say that he “thought about maybe doing a home show” with VIO-LENCE as a way of “saying goodbye,” but ultimately concluded that “I don’t feel like I need that. I feel like playing those [comeback shows in Oakland in April 2019] with Perry and Deen [Dell, bass] and Ray [Vegas, guitar] and having those two magical days and doing some other stuff that we’ve done, writing the five songs, doing the EP, I feel fulfilled,” he said.
“And anything further kind of feels forced. Actually, before this [Latin American] tour [kicked off], I honestly didn’t wanna come. [But] I was committed to it. I wasn’t gonna back out. I’m committed to the dudes. But I think I’m done. I think that I’ve done what I wanted to do with this band.”
Demmel added: “June 1st, 1985 to February, what will be 11th, 2024. 39, almost 40 years. So, never say never again. Try not to say that. Sometimes you do. It’s been life defining, it’s been a pleasure, it’s been an honor being Phil from VIO-LENCE.”
In December, it was revealed that VIO-LENCE would embark on a special eight-date headlining tour in April 2024. The tour will feature performances of their classic 1988 debut album, “Eternal Nightmare,” in its entirety, kicking off on April 5 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and concluding on April 13 in Chicago, Illinois. Joining them on these dates will be EXHORDER, DECEASED, and MORTAL WOUND.
Recent performances by VIO-LENCE have seen the band’s touring lineup including classic-era vocalist Killian alongside newer additions: drummer Adrian Aguilar (EXMORTUS), guitarist Miles Dimitri Baker (VOIDBRINGER, INTERLOPER, formerly of RINGS OF SATURN), bassist Christian Olde Wolbers, and guitarist Ira Black (VICIOUS RUMORS, HEATHEN, METAL CHURCH). Notably, these shows featured only Killian from the original VIO-LENCE lineup that debuted in April 2019 in Oakland, California.
Aguilar made his debut with VIO-LENCE in February 2023 at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California, following the departure of Strickland.
In March 2022, VIO-LENCE released a new EP titled “Let The World Burn” via Metal Blade Records. This five-song collection, the band’s first original release since 1993’s “Nothing To Gain,” was recorded at Trident Studios in Pacheco, California, by Juan Urteaga (MACHINE HEAD, EXODUS), mixed by Tue Madsen (DARK TRANQUILLITY, HEAVEN SHALL BURN), and mastered by Ted Jensen (ALICE IN CHAINS, DEATH ANGEL).
Formed in 1985, VIO-LENCE played a pivotal role in shaping the Bay Area sound, releasing three influential albums before disbanding in 1993. After sporadic reunions, they fully returned in 2019, delivering a series of successful shows and eventually releasing “Let The World Burn,” marking their first new material in nearly three decades.
The recording lineup for “Let The World Burn” featured Demmel, Killian, Perry Strickland, Olde Wolbers, and guitarist Bobby Gustafson (formerly of OVERKILL).
Demmel joined MACHINE HEAD in late 2018 and remained with the band for almost 16 years, contributing to five studio albums: “Through The Ashes Of Empires” (2003), “The Blackening” (2007), “Unto The Locust” (2011), “Bloodstone & Diamonds” (2014), and “Catharsis” (2018).