This is bad news concerning Slayer...

detuned wrote:

Necrotizing fasciitis.

That actually sounds like a Slayer song.

SLAYER has recruited Gary Holt (pictured below) from veteran San Francisco Bay Area thrashers EXODUS to be SLAYER's guest guitarist, temporary filling in for Jeff Hanneman who is currently recovering from surgery. Holt will immediately join Tom Araya (bass, vocals), Kerry King (guitar) and Dave Lombardo (drums) for their five-date Australian Soundwave Festival tour that begins February 26.

Hanneman underwent emergency surgery on his right arm late last month after contracting a serious infection, possibly caused by a spider bite. He is now recuperating at home and is expected to make a full recovery. He will return to the SLAYER lineup as soon as he has fully recovered.

While Hanneman's doctors were not able to definitively identify the infection's origin, they diagnosed necrotizing fasciitis, an infection caused by bacteria. According to WebMD, necrotizing fasciitis can destroy skin, fat, and the tissue covering the muscles. The disease sometimes is called "flesh-eating" bacteria.

"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."

Gary is a damn fine pick!

That works really well.

Damn, I'm sorry that happened to Jeff, but the people that get to see Gary with them are lucky bastards! Those will be some great shows.

By the way, I had a friend who got Necrotizing fasciitis after getting a cut on his arm. That stuff is no joke. He was actually on life suppport for a while. Scary.

I wish Jeff all the best, but I definitely want to see Slayer with Gary. I imagine it'll be the tightest Slayer have been in a while.

Smindas wrote:

I wish Jeff all the best, but I definitely want to see Slayer with Gary. I imagine it'll be the tightest Slayer have been in a while.

Jeff has been playing with the rest of the band for almost 30 years...how could a fill in guitarist make the band "tighter"?

I know Holt is an excellent guitarist and I'm sure he'll do an admirable job of filling in.

detuned wrote:

Smindas wrote:

I wish Jeff all the best, but I definitely want to see Slayer with Gary. I imagine it'll be the tightest Slayer have been in a while.

Jeff has been playing with the rest of the band for almost 30 years...how could a fill in guitarist make the band "tighter"?

Because some guitarists play rhythms and solos tighter than others. I think Gary is definitely one of those. I think this will be a special treat to hear. Hopefully Jeff will make a full recovery and be back soon.

Fat Freddy wrote:

Quote :

Necrotizing fasciitis

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

Right? It's like he contracted one of his own songs.

What ToB said, Gary is a guitar machine. Jeff is good but he's hardly the king of technique or anything.

bassman wrote:

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 have more skill now that I did in the 80's and I would love to have the stamina

It would be KILLER to see Slayer with Holt.

See? Bait.

Haha, I'm not trying to open a can of worms or anything - honest! I just think more of Gary Holt's guitar playing than I do Hanneman. They're both good at their craft, I just think it'll be a treat to see Slayer with Holt.

Eyesore wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

Quote :

Necrotizing fasciitis

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

Right? It's like he contracted one of his own songs.

For those that are curious...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necrotizing_fasciitis

Don't view while eating lunch. I'd bet the farm that this experience will show up in a Slayer song at some point. It's tailor-made for them.

Holy crap! That's the flesh-eating bacteria? Wow. Yeah, that stuff is brutal. It's killed fishermen around here in just days. And that worries me since I do a lot of fishing. Apparently the bacteria is present in a lot of murky bodies of water up here, which are precisely the kind of places I fish.

Yeah, I did all that research when my friend got it. Hanneman is lucky, they sometimes have to amputate the infected area. I constantly clean out any type of scratch, paper cut, etc. I get now.