R.I.P. Jeff Hanneman of Slayer, Metal Will Not Be The Same Anymore

Post date: 03-May-2013 02:32:44

When I opened my internet browser roughly 5 minutes ago, I saw something that made my heart sink. One of the top searches on Dogpile was "Slayer guitarist dies." At first I thought it was some kind of joke or meme, but quickly realized the opposite. Jeff Hanneman, one of Slayer's founding guitarists, died at 49 today due to liver failure, possibly involving necrotizing fasciitis (flesh eating disease) he contracted from a spider bite a few years ago. And seriously, this was not something I expected to hear this year (or any time soon). Slayer has been one of the few very consistent metal bands out there. Aside from the music remaining undoubtedly "Slayer," three out of four members of the band have been there since day 1. In metal, this kind of band cohesion is pretty rare, especially after so many years. Hanneman's riffs have been bouncing through my head since I was in middle school. He always writes the chunky, meaty riffs that got me into Slayer in the first place. I firmly believe you can hear the Hanneman influences in my own metal music. My first Slayer album was "Diabolus in Musica" and, yeah, most people don't hold that one in very high esteem, but it's the kind of Slayer sound I enjoy the best. I rocked that fucker out constantly for a long-ass time. Then I got ahold of "God Hates Us All" when it came out, and I've been a hardcore fan ever since. And now that he's gone, both Slayer and the world of metal will not be the same anymore. Rest in peace, metal-god.