DEMMEL-ITION MAN

HOW FATE (AND PERSISTENCE) LED FORMER MACHINE HEAD GUITARIST PHIL DEMMEL TO A TREASURED SPOT IN KERRY KING'S BAND

- Jon Wiederhorn

IT MIGHT HAVE been a coincidence, or maybe an evil act of fate. But a major volatile career move put Phil Demmel in the front of the line to be the second guitarist for Kerry King, a gig Demmel now proudly holds.

In September 2018, following a 15-year tenure with Machine Head, Demmel quit the band — and lost the paycheck it provided — due to personal differences with frontman Robb Flynn. Two days later, he got a call from Kerry King, who told him that guitarist Gary Holt had to drop off the Slayer tour due to a family emergency and asked Demmel if he could fly to Europe on short notice to play some shows.

“The timing happened to be good, and I think me stepping into the Slayer situation and learning 19 songs on the flight over to Europe made a good impression on Kerry and helped me when it came time for him to bring on a second guitarist in his new band,” Demmel says.

Demmel didn’t track any of the rhythm parts with King for From Hell I Rise, but he worked hard on leads; when it was time for him to record, he popped into the studio with King and producer Josh Wilbur and recorded around 10 solos and transition licks in three hours. That’s not much of a time expenditure, for sure, but he was so well prepared that he didn’t need any longer. Demmel wrote all of his leads at home and ensured they complimented King’s songs before entering the studio.