Phil Demmel, a founding guitarist of Bay Area thrash outfit Vio-lence, has pushed back against claims that he urged vocalist Sean Killian to dissolve the band after his departure nearly two years ago. Demmel’s last appearance with the group came in February 2024, when Vio-lence played at the Carioca Club in São Paulo, Brazil.
Addressing the rumors directly, Demmel took to social media on Sunday, January 4, to set the record straight, writing: “I asked Sean to end the band with me, then perform the material as solo act as I felt the rapid turnover of the band wasn’t something I wanted to be involved with. When he told me he didn’t want to, I didn’t ask again. It was a request, not a demand.”
“For my last few years of my time in Vio, Sean was doing the scheduling/ booking, I wasn’t making any band decisions. He’d ask me if I was available to play and I was able to cherry-pick the gigs I wanted/could do until it was time for me to stop. I was in no way ‘controlling’ the band or making unilateral band decisions (except maybe getting [former Fear Factory bassist] Christian [Olde Wolbers] on board to fill in) that I can recall. Sean and I decided on things together.”
“Vio-Lence is forging ahead as am I. Can everyone else?”
Demmel’s statement was posted as a direct reaction to an interview Sean Killian gave to Robb Chavez of “Robbs MetalWorks,” in which the Vio-lence frontman discussed Phil’s exit from the band.
“[Phil] wanted me to shelve the band,” Killian told at the time “And then we sold out the Whisky [A Go Go in February 2023] in L.A., and he brought it up in the green room after we played. And I was, like, ‘No, I’m not shelving anything.’ ‘Cause we never really toured back in the day, so there’s so many places around the world that haven’t seen Vio-lence or heard it live.”
Killian attributed the disagreement to a fundamental difference in personality and priorities, characterizing Demmel‘s attitude toward the band as possessive.
“For him, it’s a garage thing that — I don’t know… He’s kind of a selfish guy. And if you’ve seen some of his interviews, he even brings it up himself,” Killian stated.
The vocalist then drew a contrast with how he had handled earlier lineup changes, pointing to the band’s brief early-2000s reunion that ended when Demmel joined Machine Head. Killian said that, rather than creating tension, he supported the move and urged his bandmate to accept the offer.
“I’ve never told him, ‘You can’t do this’ or ‘you can’t do that,’ ’cause he’s filled in for Lamb of God… And I’ve always supported him a hundred percent,” Killian explained. “But when he told me that he wanted me to shelve it [two and a half years ago], that’s when I was just kind of, like, ‘This relationship…’ Like El Duce would say, ‘This relationship is over.’ [Laughs]”
The breaking point for Killian appeared to be Demmel‘s public comments after a successful Vio-Lence show at Poland’s Mystic Festival in June 2024. The set featured a guest appearance by Machine Head frontman (and ex-Vio-Lence guitarist) Robb Flynn for the classic “World In A World“—a moment of unity that was apparently undercut by Demmel‘s subsequent press engagements.
“The next week [Phil] does an interview, and it’s just nothing but him talking bad about [Vio-lence],” Killian recalled. “And I just finally had it with him and told him, ‘Man, you got issues. And I don’t want any part of it.’ I’m 61. I don’t want people like that in my life.”
