RIP Jeff Hanneman of Slayer

[Archivist]

Jeff Hanneman of Slayer has passed away from a protracted battle with flesh eating disease.  Ugh.

http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/music/slayer-guitarist-dies-of-liver-failure-after-battling-flesheating-disease-20130503-2iwtm.html

It was a turning point for me to hear the music of Slayer.  As a teenager in the late 80's, I had come into thrash on the wave of the 80's metal boom, listening to Iron Maiden, Megadeth and Metallica.  Slayer's pounding drums and frenetic lead guitar work became a mainstay of my listening, powering me through school all the way through to final year.  Albums like Reign In Blood, South of Heaven and Hell Awaits were the soundtrack of my life at that time.  Back then it was all about records, with CD's only coming into affordability around 88-89, so some of the first Slayer albums I bought were on original vinyl.  I still have them in my collection.

Hanneman and King were guitar heroes to me.  As much as I loved melodic playing by Satriani, Vai et al, the blitzspeed solos of Slayer thrilled me with their violent energy.  It went against everything I had learned in classical music, using wacked time signatures and seemingly random but precise assemblages of notes.

Thank you, Jeff, for the music and energy over the years, and for inspiring a wide eyed teenager to pick up a guitar.  Thank you for some truly classic tracks that were the soundtrack of some truly great years of my life.  Rock on South of Heaven, wherever you are.

[Umaril Has Returned]

 I went to see Slayer on Halloween night in 1987 or '8 at the Stabler Arena in bethlehem, Pennsylvania.  Overkill and Motorhead opened for them and what a show. Nearly lost my hearing there ans the entire floor was a mosh pit. I was glad i stayed in the uppers and watched the show from relative safety and sanity. Great show man, and hearing South of Heaven,  Ghosts Of War, Die By The Sword and Chemical Warfare live was one night I'll never forget. Also saw Slayer on the Testament tour for Practice What You Preach. Nuclear Assault was along of the ride too 

[fulci420]

Was sad to hear about Jeff's passing today truly a legend of metal. I too was inspired by the insane lead playing of the Slayer duo to pick up a guitar and 12 years later I'm still playing. Shows you the longevity of the music though as you were picking up those first albums on vinyl I was yet to be born, yet we were both inspired by the same music. On the bright side dying of a disease called "necrotizing fasciitis" is about as metal as it gets, so metal in life metal in death, RIP Jeff Hanneman!

[Paquita]

On the bright side dying of a disease called "necrotizing fasciitis" is about as metal as it gets, so metal in life metal in death, RIP Jeff Hanneman!

Necrotizing fasciitis FROM A SPIDER BITE! AAAAAAAAH!!

RIP

[zombie no.one]

RIP

Legend

[RCMerchant]

Slayer turned me from a punk into a fullblown metalhead. They were the very foundation which all speed metal was built on. Motorhead was around-but it was all about SLAYER at the time for me.
RIP.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1bBGdoRgYU

[Leah]

R.I.P., I was starting to get into Slayer. I know, I'm a late bloomer.

[lester1/2jr]

It's a terrible loss. I love Slayer.

[voltron]

Like many others, Slayer were an important band in my formative metalhead years. Hell Awaits was my fave - moreso than Reign In Blood. I didn't really keep up with their later releases, but they definitely have a place in my heart.
RIP Jeff.

[Umaril Has Returned]

On the bright side dying of a disease called "necrotizing fasciitis" is about as metal as it gets, so metal in life metal in death, RIP Jeff Hanneman!

Necrotizing fasciitis FROM A SPIDER BITE! AAAAAAAAH!!

RIP

Really!  With everything you can die from today, it's oddball occurrences like this that really show you that every now and then, that if truth is stranger than fiction, somedays it gets REALLY strange...

[Allhallowsday]

This is a tragic loss of enormous talent. 
JEFF HANNEMAN will never be forgotten. 

[Leah]

There's talk that WBC will try to picket Jeff's Funeral. Please excuse the wrong date.

I have a great idea to stop them from doing this, get multiple loud speakers and play a lot of Slayer songs to drive them away.

[zombie no.one]

Well it could be the last thing they ever protest at...

[66Crush]

R.I.P. Jeff.