For almost 30 years, Jeff Hanneman was a formidable presence at Slayer shows, standing stage right, wearing a black t-shirt or an Oakland Raiders jersey with camo shorts or athletic leg and shin guards. He never smiled. His blond, sweaty hair frequently obscured his face as he banged his head. His right hand was a blur as he sawed his pick back and forth on his guitar strings.
In his home studio, he cast even more rays of darkness across Slayer’s insidious art, penning many of their most memorable songs, including Angel Of Death, Raining Blood, Chemical Warfare, South Of Heaven, Dead Skin Mask and War Ensemble, as well as writing the music for two Grammy award-winning tracks, Eyes Of The Insane and Final Six.
Offstage and between gigs, however, Jeff was barely heard from, avoiding fans and the press, and disappearing to his home in Hemet, California in Riverside County, 100 miles from Los Angeles, when Slayer weren’t on tour.
“He wasn’t big into fame,” says former Slayer guitarist Kerry King, Jeff’s six-string partner for 30 of the band’s 38-year existence. “He didn’t give a shit about being famous, so he could never really understand why anybody wanted to talk to him. He just wanted to do his thing.”
That combination of dedication to the cause of Slayer and disdain for the spotlight earned Jeff the respect of many metal fans. As did the fact he was one of the architects of thrash, and a man who kept Slayer bristling with the intensity of hardcore punk long after many of their contemporaries had become more commercial.
“I love heavy, heavy music, but I’m super-into really good songs and Jeff was a great songwriter,” says Blake Ibanez, former guitarist with Power Trip and
