Phil Demmel has announced that he will play his final concert with VIO-LENCE this coming Sunday, February 11 in São Paulo, Brazil. The gig will mark the last show of VIO-LENCE‘s Latin American tour with EXHORDER.

The 56-year-old guitarist, who co-founded the acclaimed San Francisco Bay Area thrash metal outfit in 1985, addressed his future with the resurrected group in a video message he shared to his social media yesterday (Monday, February 5).

Just hours after it was revealed that Demmel is one of the musicians in Kerry King‘s (SLAYER) solo project, Phil told his Instagram followers: “I am announcing that this Sunday will be my last show with VIO-LENCE.

“The timing is weird, I know, and it doesn’t really coincide with the Kerry thing,” he clarified. “It’s not that, ‘Oh, that got announced, so now I’m quitting this, stopping this,’ whatever you wanna (call it), retiring from, whatever. It’s been, I guess, in the works for a bit. My status has been undefined for a while. I’m kind of doing things that I felt comfortable or fell into my schedule or whatever. But given just the latest state of the band and where I feel I belong with it or feel tied to it, I just think that my time is at an end.”

Demmel continued: “I’ll always identify with the band. Me and (drummer) Perry (Strickland) started this band in high school. It’s cool to be going to places that we haven’t been.

“I’m feeling that (VIO-LENCE singer) Sean (Killian) is… We’ve gone far on different pages. I guess we’ve always been on different pages. But I don’t feel like I fit in with what the objective of this is anymore. And in light of some current events (laughs), I felt compelled to make the break.”

Phil went on to say that he “thought about maybe doing a home show” with VIO-LENCE as a way of “saying goodbye,” but ultimately concluded that “I don’t feel like I need that. I feel like playing those comeback shows in Oakland in April 2019 with Perry and Deen (Dell, bass) and Ray (Vegas, guitar) and having those two magical days and doing some other stuff that we’ve done, writing the five songs, doing the EP, I feel fulfilled,” he said. “And anything further kind of feels forced. Actually, before this Latin American tour kicked off, I honestly didn’t wanna come. But I was committed to it. I wasn’t gonna back out. I’m committed to the dudes. But I think I’m done. I think that I’ve done what I wanted to do with this band.”

Demmel added: “June 1st, 1985 to February, what will be 11th, 2024. 39, almost 40 years. So, never say never again. Try not to say that. Sometimes you do. It’s been life defining, it’s been a pleasure, it’s been an honor being Phil from VIO-LENCE.”