Metal Shock Finland (World Assault )

Source: Louder Than Hell by David Brewster

The metal world is mourning the loss of Jeff Hanneman and while the future of SLAYER seems uncertain (with Dave Lombardo booted and currently out of the picture), one thing remains certain – Jeff Hanneman was the driving force that pushed Slayer’s music from the obscure West Coast underground to a worldwide phenomenon.  With his recent passing, it’s sad to admit that Slayer will never be the same.

Slayer’s music is beyond important in the history of metal’s burst out of the underground during the early 1980s.  Out of the major players that create the “Big Four,” Slayer were the darkest, angriest, and most shocking of them all.  While other metal bands from that era had plenty of songs with dark themes and imagery, Slayer went straight to the hell for their inspiration and seriously didn’t care who was offended, shocked, or confused about what they hearing or seeing.

Slayer has always utilized Satan-approved artwork and images, hyperactive guitar riffs, atonal music composition, breakneck tempos, and disturbing lyrics that weave an intricate poetic web of war, death, destruction, social isolation, suicide, and they even left a little room to sing about the Nazi’s (Josef Mengele specifically).

The latter happened to be an interesting (and controversial) hobby for Hanneman, as his collection of Nazi medals, artifacts, and memorabilia became an obsession throughout his life.  His Nazi collection began when he was much younger and his father presented him with a collection of Nazi artifacts that he had brought home after the Second World War.

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Hanneman has the distinction of being one of the few metal artists to be nominated for a Grammy five times, and he took home the coveted music award twice for Best Metal Performance with the songs “Eyes of the Insane” and “Final Six” (along with Slayer vocalist/bassist Tom Araya) from the 2006 Slayer album Christ Illusion.

To learn more about Jeff Hanneman’s Guitar Style, go HERE.