Jeff Hanneman of Slayer passed away on this day in 2013 and it
was, and still is, very sad for all of us loyal Jeff fans who followed his
awesome metal career ever since Slayer's Show No Mercy days in 1983, (when they
actually wore make up on that album only to ditch it after getting flak from
all the Bay Area Thrashers:) Jeff's incredible duel guitar work with Kerry King
is no less legendary than the duos of Holt/Hunolt, Hammett/Hetfield,
Mustaine/Friedman, or the legendary duo of Murray/Smith.
Last year at the Metal Awards show, they appropriately dedicated the entire
show to Jeff, and it was nice to hear the condolences and memories from his
fellow metal artists. It was a perfect gathering of his fellow artists and it
was almost prophetic that the Metal Awards happened to be on the day of his
leaving us behind.
As a fan, Jeff was one of my metal guitar heroes. He was an electric,
aggressive presence on stage, and with his love of hardcore punk, his playing
reflected that nasty attitude with precision and heaviness. My first time I saw
Jeff play was actually on a video Norman Leggio had, called "The Ultimate
Revenge", a 1985 concert video tape put out by Combat and Metal Blade
records. The show was played at Studio 54, which had Exodus, Slayer and Venom
getting revenge on all posers and disco..I was speechless watching Jeff for the very first time with
his gnashing teeth, long straight blonde hair, black leather jacket,and furious
headbanging, shred through such classics as "Die By The Sword",
"Hell Awaits", & "Chemical Warfare." Among one of my favorite
penned Jeff Hanneman songs is "Captor of Sin," where he goes into a
classic Hanneman lead right from the start of the song which encapsulated his
style. Jeff also wrote the heaviest song of all time in heavy metal history
with his "Angel Of Death" masterpiece. He will be sorely missed by us
fans, especially we Slaytanic Wehrmacht fans that have been fans for 30 years.
He is a legend. Next week I will be going to see Slayer along with one of my other very
favorite metal bands of all time, Exodus, who I am proud to say will be my 7th
time I have seen since 1985.
Gary Holt, one of my very favorite
riffmasters and lead guitarists in metal, will be pulling double duty in both
Exodus and filling in for Jeff Hanneman.There is not a person more deserving
of filling in for, but never replacing, Jeff: Gary is one of the pioneers of thrash and has been buddies with Slayer ever since Exodus were cutting their teeth at Ruthie's Inn
in San Francisco 30 plus years ago. Gary is one of the most humble coolest guys I have ever
met, and to this day, I will never forget his giving me a big metal bear hug
when he came of the stage in 2004 when he spotted me, a 38 year old headbanger in
my "Bonded By Blood" shirt in the front row.
I am a 48 year old headbanger now and It will be an honor to see Slayer
once again, and I know Jeff will be there in Spirit. HELL AWAITS NEXT WEEKEND
IN DENVER!!!
POST SCRIPT!! This concert was absolutely epic and it is hard to believe it has been over seven years ago!!!
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