Jeff Hanneman, the brilliant, life-long guitarist for Slayer, died yesterday. A statement from the band simply said, “Slayer is devastated to inform their friends and fans that their bandmate and brother, Jeff Hanneman, passed away at about 11AM this morning near his Southern California home.” I can already envision the assholes from the Westboro Baptist Church preparing their lovely placards to honor him.
Douchebag hipsters, top-40-listening idiots, and religious retards (including your mother in-law) have long associated Slayer with anti-theism and devil-worship, but, let’s be honest, no one ever accused the aforementioned, deciphering groups of listeners of being exceptionally bright. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, Slayer has been, and always will be, one of the most notoriously brutal, honest, and thought provoking bands in history. Is there is a single band on planet earth that is more ubiquitously associated with evil and mayhem? I think not. However, despite retarded popular opinion, Slayer has never been a satanic band, but, true to form, that certainly didn’t stop them from reveling in that public image.
Slayer simply takes the harsh reality of the sometimes very ugly world that confronts them and shoves it in back in our delusional, facebook-checking, idiot faces. Topics like famine, disease, murder, and death are consistent lyrical themes that pepper Slayer’s ultra-aggressive musical attack. If society wants to stick its collective head in the sand and pretend such unpleasant topics aren’t part of our objective reality, then I guess we should all go back to reading TMZ and watching The Jersey Shore. But, if you want a nasty dose of reality served without the large side-dish of phony pop bullshit, Slayer fucking delivers.
Despite being constantly pigeon-holed by the simple-minded, Slayer is a purely American creation and a testament to free speech. In an increasingly sanitized, post-Janet nip-slip world, Slayer has consistently challenged conventional norms, and they have never been afraid to do so in rude fashion. If there is a God, he made Jeff Hanneman just to piss you off.
So long, Jeff. You will be missed.
