This is bad news concerning Slayer...

Jeff Hanneman, guitarist and founding member of SLAYER, was hospitalized late last month where he underwent emergency surgery on his right arm after contracting a serious infection, according to his bandmates Kerry King, Tom Araya and Dave Lombardo.

While Hanneman's doctors were not able to definitively identify the infection's origin, they diagnosed necrotizing fasciitis, and indicated it likely was rooted in a spider bite. The guitarist is now recuperating at home, has already begun the process of subsequent medical procedures including skin grafts, and is expected to make a full recovery.

In light of this situation and SLAYER's upcoming participation in the Australian Soundwave Festival tour that is set to kick off on February 26, the band has made the tough decision to play the dates without Hanneman, and will bring on a guest guitarist to fill in for him until such time as he has fully recuperated and is ready to return to the lineup. The band will announce details about the guest guitarist shortly.

"Jeff is our brother, we've all been friends and together as a band for almost 30 years," said Araya, "so we just want him to completely recover as soon as possible."

"After everything that happened last year," King added, "we all agreed that we just can't let our fans down again," referring to Araya's severe back and neck pain that prompted his January 2010 surgery, unfortunately leading to the band's postponement or cancellation of numerous shows in 2009 and 2010. "Jeff is totally on board with this decision, so we will tour as planned. At this point, we can't pinpoint exactly what day he'll be back, but he'll be back as soon as he possibly can. And we can't wait for Jeff to get better and get his ass back on the road."

Necrotizing fasciitis, now THAT scares me. I hope Jeff gets better soon.

Quote :

Necrotizing fasciitis

Scary, but it also sounds like a ready-made Slayer lyric ready to go when Jeff recovers...

meh, they said he'd make a full recovery. he'll only miss a few shows.

Sounds like he got bit by a brown recluse spider - that kind of stuff happens....

Hope he recovers soon. From a purely selfish point of view, I'm glad he will be replaced for the Aussie tour, rather than Slayer cancelling!

Any guess on who is gonna be guest guit-slinger ?

A known player or his tech ?

I am really curious

My bet would be on his tech, Hanneman has a pretty distinctive style which would be difficult to replicate for someone from outside the band's closest associates. Plus there seems to be a tradition of using guitar techs to fill in for injured talent in metal bands.

On the plus side, Jeff's spider-sense has never been stronger.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

On the plus side, Jeff's spider-sense has never been stronger.

thejokeriv wrote:

Sounds like he got bit by a brown recluse spider - that kind of stuff happens....

My uncle got bit by one of those last year. His ankle swelled up so much it looked like a baseball stuck on his foot.

These crazy thrashers, they'll do anything to be more metal.

hope he gets better soon!

He should be fine... at least it didn't happen in their prime.

exact33 wrote:

hope he gets better soon!

As do I.

bassman wrote:

My bet would be on his tech, Hanneman has a pretty distinctive style which would be difficult to replicate for someone from outside the band's closest associates. Plus there seems to be a tradition of using guitar techs to fill in for injured talent in metal bands.

This is a very likely scenario.

Besides, would they need to hire a skilled guitarist to replace him? Could you imagine Rusty Cooley on tour with SLAYER playing those riffs and leads?

Temple of Blood wrote:

Besides, would they need to hire a skilled guitarist to replace him?

Predictable. It's impossible to have a single thread about Slayer on this board without someone throwing in bullsh*t remarks about either the guitar playing or lyrics.

detuned wrote:

Predictable. It's impossible to have a single thread about Slayer on this board without someone throwing in bullsh*t remarks about either the guitar playing or lyrics.

I love SLAYER. Love their last disc.

Don't take it so personally. My comment was true ... nothing B.S. about it. Are you in the band so you're personally offended or something?

Hopefully Jeff will make a speedy recovery and join them again soon.

no, not with the band. Sorry, just a sore spot I guess.

Now on with our regularly scheduled programming.

Hey, he's 40 now, we get crotchety in our old age.

Temple of Blood wrote:

bassman wrote:

My bet would be on his tech, Hanneman has a pretty distinctive style which would be difficult to replicate for someone from outside the band's closest associates. Plus there seems to be a tradition of using guitar techs to fill in for injured talent in metal bands.

This is a very likely scenario.

Besides, would they need to hire a skilled guitarist to replace him? Could you imagine Rusty Cooley on tour with SLAYER playing those riffs and leads?

I don't think it's so much a skill issue as a stamina issue, some of the stuff they do requires a ridiculous amount of speed for quite a long period of time and after a while if you can't stay relaxed you will lock up and cramp like nobody's business. I'm sure whoever they choose will be given time in rehearsal to develop the skills needed for the gig.

I'm not worried even though this is probably a bigger temporary loss than Tom Araya. With Araya you can almost be certain any other vocalist can improve upon Slayer's songs. Yeah I know he's been a mainstay for a long time but his vocals can be very hit and miss especially live - his presence in the band is not as integral as Kerry's or Jeff's, or even that of Lombardo.

There have been rumors circulating about how Tom Araya may retire out of Slayer and questions about Slayer's future have been asked for some time since Araya's back problems surfaced. Honestly, I don't see the big deal about Araya wanting to retire - it's his call but Slayer can and imo should continue on without him. Much respect for the dude, he was there in the beginning and grew up along side the rest of the guys in Slayer but lets face it - he is no Bruce Dickinson nor Rob Halford and anyone Kerry finds can easily replace and perhaps add some extra depth to Slayer's songs.

But this thread is about Jeff after all - this is nothing serious to be worried about. He'll sit out on the current mini tour of Australia and I'm sure he'll be back in form over the next 3 - 4 months.

any word who the temp will be ?

mlotek wrote:

any word who the temp will be ?

Kerry King's favorite current guitarist ... the rhythm guitarist of ...... Parkway Drive


Hahhahahahahahahahaha joking!! (or so I hope!)

He'll be back. I'm sure.