Jeff Hanneman

Panagiotis Karagiannidis from Metal Paths spoke with SLAYER drum legend Dave Lombardo recently about a number of topics including his new PHILM project. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

Metal Paths: That was the first question I wanted to ask you, about Jeff’s (Hanneman) health and how is it going with Gary Holt (EXODUS)…

Lombardo: “Gary is an amazing guitar player. We love Gary and we really appreciate all of the help he has given us while Jeff is getting better.”

Metal Paths: When exactly do you think that Jeff is gonna be back?

Lombardo: “I really don’t know. Nobody knows… Until he feels better and the doctor says ‘go’…”

Metal Paths: That’s the most important, the fact that he feels better. So how has been touring with Big 4 so far? Is there any special story you’d like to share with the fans?

Lombardo: “I’m really having a nice time with Lars (Ulrich) and James (Hetfield) and (Robert) Trujillo and Dave (Mustaine) visited us in our dressing room, I go visit them. It’s a very, very nice friendship and relationship, me and Lars we get along great and I don’t like people talking shit about Lars! They have to stop! There are a lot of fans out there who like to say a lot of bad things about him and he’s a very good friend of mine and I don’t like it.”

Metal Paths: You recently had a special show in London playing Reign In Blood in it’s entirety. What were the fans’ reactions?

Lombardo: “They loved it!”

Metal Paths: And how has been for you playing entire this album?

Lombardo: “Oh I loved playing that album. I like playing it because I can play it really fast and I like to play fast because of Kerry (King). He enjoys that album too.”

Metal Paths: Would you like to do something like that in the future with another album this time?

Lombardo: “Oh we did Seasons In The Abyss, and I don’t know if it’ll ever happen with another record.”

Metal Paths: An EP is going to be released this summer. Do you have any details regarding the release date or something?

Lombardo: “No…no details (Laughs). Everything is already known as I said before. I really don’t know any details.”

Read more at Metal Paths.

Source: Bravewords.com

Thrash legends SLAYER have issued the following open letter to fans around the world:

“Slayer fans everywhere – it’s time to let you know what is going on with our brother Jeff Hanneman. As you know, Jeff was bitten by a spider more than a year ago, but what you may not have known was that for a couple of days after he went to the ER, things were touch-and-go. There was talk that he might have to have his arm amputated, and we didn’t know if he was going to pull through at all. He was in a medically-induced coma for a few days and had several operations to remove the dead and dying tissue from his arm. So, understand, he was in really, really bad shape. It’s been about a year since he got out of the hospital, and since then, he had to learn to walk again, he’s had several painful skin grafts, he’s been in rehab doing exercises to regain the strength in his arm; but best of all, he’s been playing guitar. We were all excited when he joined us onstage for the encore a year ago at The Big Four show at Coachella (see photo below).

Since then, we’ve given him all the time and support he’s needed to continue his rehab so he can come back to the band fully recovered and able to deliver the kind of shows we all want him to. While Jeff’s been doing some writing and has been coming to rehearsal over the past several weeks, he has decided he needs to take more time to continue his rehab. While we want him back onstage with the band, all of us support his decision. So, we’re very grateful that Gary Holt (EXODUS) will continue to fill in for Jeff, and will tour with us until Jeff completes his rehab and is ready to return. How long will that be? The best and most honest answer we can give you is ‘as long as it takes.’ We also wanted you to know that we’ve been doing some writing and recording for the next Slayer album – we’ve tracked a few songs, and will finish the album when we’re off the road later this year. Gary will join us on tour in Europe and the UK in May and June, and then we’ll all see you on this Summer’s Mayhem Festival.

Slayer’s tour schedule can be found here.

Source: Bravewords.com