Former MACHINE HEAD Guitarist PHIL DEMMEL Plays U.S. National Anthem At DUBLIN GAELS Basketball Game (Video)

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Former MACHINE HEAD and current VIO-LENCE guitarist Phil Demmel performed a "ripping" rendition of the U.S. national anthem during this past Thursday night's (February 10) Dublin Gaels basketball game as part of the East Bay Athletic League (EBAL). Video of his appearance can be seen below. Demmel and his VIO-LENCE bandmates will release a new EP, "Let The World Burn", on March 4 via Metal Blade Records. It is their first original release since 1993's "Nothing To Gain". Joining Demmel in VIO-LENCE's current lineup are singer Sean Killian, original drummer Perry Strickland, former OVERKILL guitarist Bobby Gustafson and ex-FEAR FACTORY bassist Christian Olde Wolbers. VIO-LENCE released three studio albums between 1988 and 1993. The group reunited soon after Demmel left MACHINE HEAD in late 2018. The band performed its first comeback concert in April 2019 at the Oakland Metro in Oakland, California and spent most of the ensuing months playing select shows in the U.S. and Europe. Last year, Demmel told Revolver magazine how he first became exposed to the San Francisco Bay Area metal scene: "I grew up and still live in Dublin, California, which is about 15 miles east of Oakland. Our town has certainly seen some legends come out of it — Chuck Billy [TESTAMENT] is from here, Zet [Steve 'Zetro' Souza] from EXODUS is from here, my cousin, Troy Luccketta, who plays drums for TESLA, grew up in Dublin. So we had these older people who we could look up to who kind of brought us into the scene and exposed us to the clubs in and around San Francisco. I joined a band called DEATH PENALTY in June 1985, my last month of high school, and we changed our name to VIO-LENCE. We played a free keg party here in Dublin at our buddy Paul's house, and that was our first gig. Zet had just joined LEGACY [which changed its name to TESTAMENT in early 1987] at the time, and LEGACY was getting big in the East Bay and playing all the clubs, opening for bands like LÅÅZ ROCKIT and EXODUS or SLAYER whenever they came through town. So we were seeing all this action happening at all these clubs and seeing things like slam dancing for the first time."