Phil Demmel (born April 2, 1967)[1] 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 played with Slayer, Nonpoint, Overkill, Lamb of God and Testament[2] as a fill-in guitarist.

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.

[8] Following Demmel's departure from Machine Head in November 2018,[9] musical outlets reported there were rumors that he would reunite with Vio-lence, who planned to do shows and possibly release new material "in the not too distant future".

[18] In summer 2019, Demmel joined forces with Overkill vocalist Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth and two-fourths of Metal Allegiance (bassist Mark Menghi and drummer Mike Portnoy) in the supergroup/cover band BPMD, which released their first album, American Made, in June 2020.