MACHINE HEAD's Phil Demmel Sits out Rest of Tour

Blabbermouth.com reports that Machine Head has issued a statement regarding the loss of Phil Demmel's father.

“All of us here in Machine Head wish to extend our deepest condolences and sympathy to the Demmel family for their tragic loss of Harry W. Demmel. Flying home today to grieve with his family and celebrate the life of his father, Phil [Demmel, Machine Head guitarist] has asked that Machine Head continue on in his absence for what will most likely be the remainder of the Black Crusade tour.”

Says Machine Head frontman Robb Flynn, “Phil was adamant about us continuing on. We didn't think it would be possible, but a lot of the guitar players on the tour rallied around Phil last night and volunteered to help out on guitar duties. We really can't thank them all enough. Adam [Duce, Machine Head bassist] and I spent most of our day off today teaching Corey and Matt from Trivium, Christopher from Arch Enemy, and Frederic, the bassist of Dragonforce, the set. They will all be playing various songs throughout the rest of the tour.”