Vio-Lence’s Sean Killian Calls Phil Demmel “Selfish” for Wanting the Band to Go On Hiatus
Nearly two years after ex-Vio-Lence member Phil Demmel left the band, vocalist Sean Killian is spilling the tea about what caused the departure and how temporarily putting the band on the back burner was never an option.
Killian offered these new details during an interview with Robb Chavez, of Robbs MetalWorks. During their conversation, Killian was asked about Demmel’s departure and the decision to go on without him in the band. And when it came right down to it, Killian didn’t hold back.
“[Phil] wanted me to shelve the band. 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. 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.”
Demmel left Vio-Lence back in February 2024 after a show at Carioca Club in São Paulo, Brazil. At the time, he claimed that his departure from the band had nothing to do with his involvement in other projects like the Kerry King solo project or Category 7, but rather that he felt his role in the band was “undefined for a while and [the band was] kid of doing things that I felt unfcomfortable [about].”
During the interview, Killian was asked why the band’s 2001 reunion effort sort of died on the vine and apparently, Robb Flynn and Machine Head were a major catalyst for things going the way they did. According to Killian, the band was writing new music at the time when Demmel was approached by Flynn to play for Machine Head.
Then, at about the time Mystic Festival 2024 was happening in Poland, Killian asked Flynn to join the band on stage to perform “World In A World,” which happened without incident. Despite that, Killian said Demmel criticized Vio-Lence in an interview, which proved to be the final straw.
“It’s just nothing but him talking bad about Vio-Lence. And I just finally had it with him and told him, ‘Man, you got issues. And I don’t want any part of it.’”
Killian said he never tried to stop Demmel from doing any extracurriculars within the metal community, including his time filling in for Lamb Of God, but he said things came to a head when those events led Demmel to ask to put Vio-Lence on hold.
“I’ve never told him, ‘You can’t do this’ or ‘you can’t do that’… 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 is over.’”
In the wake of Demmel’s departure, he’s gone on to work on the aforementioned Kerry King solo band, Category 7, and as a fill-in guitarist whenever bands need someone to step up. Demmel’s continued line for why he left Vio-Lence was that the band no longer felt like home, explaining that a constantly changing lineup felt like there was no connection in the group anymore.
