Defender of the Riff - Phil Demmel (CATEGORY 7) [FIRST LOOK]

Defender of the Riff - Phil Demmel (CATEGORY 7) [FIRST LOOK]

- By Maxime Cherrier -->

Metal guitar legend Phil Demmel rips through riffs from Black Sabbath, Slayer, KISS & more while discussing an astonishing 40 year career.

"We need a singer - at the top of everybody's list was Mr. John Bush" - Phil details the creation and recording of Category 7 (a supergroup made up of himself and current and former members of Anthrax, Exodus, Shadows Fall and more).

"We wanted to be the fastest. We wanted to be the heaviest" - Phil also discusses co-founding thrash legends Vio-Lence as a 21 year old, playing with some of the best in the business (Kerry King, filling in for Testament and Lamb of God, and most notably being the longest serving guitarist of metal behemoths Machine Head).

Recorded Live at Lamb of God's Headbangers Boat 2025

Watch the full video

Back to blog
1 of 3