Jeff Hanneman | |
|---|---|
 Hanneman performing atMayhem Festival 2009 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Jeffrey John Hanneman (1964-01-31)January 31, 1964 |
| Died | May 2, 2013(2013-05-02) (aged 49) Hemet, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Thrash metal |
| Occupations |
|
| Instrument | Guitar |
| Years active | 1981–2013 |
| Formerly of | Slayer |
Jeffrey John Hanneman (January 31, 1964 – May 2, 2013) was an American musician, best known as a founding member and co-lead guitarist of thethrash metal bandSlayer. Hanneman composed both music and lyrics for every Slayer album until his death in 2013.
Born in 1964 inLong Beach, California,[2][3] Hanneman listened toheavy metal andhardcore punk in his childhood and adolescence. He was working as atelemarketer in 1981 when he metKerry King, with whom he founded Slayer. He wrote the music for many of the band's most famous songs, such as "Angel of Death", "Raining Blood", and "Die by the Sword"; his own favorite album wasReign in Blood. His guitar riffs, inspired by metal and punk bands such asLed Zeppelin,Wasted Youth, andIron Maiden, have been called some of the most famous in metal, while his dual guitar solos with King have attracted high praise.
A reserved character, Hanneman rarely gave interviews, and preferred to indulge his interest in Germanwar medals and history. A bout ofnecrotizing fasciitis in early 2011 left him battling serious health issues; he was replaced on Slayer's tours by guitarists includingGary Holt. Hanneman died ofliver failure on May 2, 2013.
Hanneman was born January 31, 1964, inLong Beach, California,[4] and grew up there in a family containing several war veterans: his father fought inNormandy during World War II and his brothers inVietnam, making warfare a common conversation topic at the dinner table. War films were popular on TV at the time, and Hanneman often joined his brothers in constructing and coloringtank andplane models. His interest in warfare and military history has been attributed to his upbringing.[5]
In a 2009 interview withDecibel magazine, he stated his father is German, but fought for the Allied side in World War II. In the same interview, he also goes into detail of what district of Germany his father and grandparents hail from. His grandfather was fluent in German.[6]
Hanneman was introduced to heavy metal music as a child through his older sister Mary, when she was listening toBlack Sabbath at her house.[7] Once he reached high school, he discoveredhardcore punk, which had a significant influence on his style and attitude.[citation needed]
In 1981, Hanneman, who was working as a telemarketer at the time, metKerry King, when King was auditioning for asouthern rock band called "Ledger". King remembered: "As I was leaving, I saw Jeff just kinda standing around playing guitar, and he was playing stuff that I was into, likeDef Leppard's 'Wasted' andAC/DC andPriest".[8] After the try-out session, the two guitarists started talking and playingIron Maiden andJudas Priest songs.Slayer was born when King asked "Why don't we start our own band?", to which Hanneman replied "Fuck yeah!"[5]
Hanneman stated that he was playing guitar for a year by the time he met King and put an effort into improving his skills after watching him play.[9] Hanneman, who was heavily influenced by hardcore punk music, got the other members into the genre, leading Slayer into a faster and more aggressive approach. The band's drummerDave Lombardo asserted that his hardcore influences pushed him to play faster,[9] contributing to shape his drumming style.[10]
In 1984, Hanneman, Lombardo andSuicidal Tendencies guitaristRocky George had a briefhardcore punk side project called "Pap Smear" – the band had many tracks and was due to start recording when Hanneman was advised to avoid the side project by Slayer's producer,Rick Rubin, who is quoted as saying "Aaaah, don't do it, man – this is the kind of thing that breaks bands up!"[5] and Hanneman took Rubin's advice. Only a demo was recorded, consisting of Hanneman on vocals and bass, Lombardo on drums and George on guitar. Two of the songs were later re-recorded on Slayer's 1996 albumUndisputed Attitude.[5]
Early in Slayer's career, Kerry King began to be heavily influenced by English black metal bandVenom, and this influence had a big impact on Hanneman's songwriting as well.[11] Hanneman said in 1987 that although he had begun reading the Satanic bible for lyrical inspiration, he was far from a Satanist. He said his lyrics were typicallyantitheist in nature and that he hated the idea of Satanism as much as Christianity, calling them "the same thing". "What we're attacking, in a roundabout way, is theChristian TV conmen. It's unbelievable, the amount of money stolen in the name of Jesus", Hanneman said. While he conceded that much of the dark subject matter in his songs was "quite ridiculous", his extreme Satanic lyrics were ultimately "an easy way of offending people". Hanneman took a lot of his lyrical inspiration from books he would read. For example, he described the controversial song "Angel of Death" as "a history lesson" and that the song in no way implied he was a Nazi, saying "I'd read a lot about theThird Reich and was absolutely fascinated by the extremity of it all, the way Hitler had been able to hypnotize a nation and do whatever he wanted."[12]
In early 2011, Hanneman contractednecrotizing fasciitis on one of his arms. Reports linked this illness with a spider bite he claimed to have received while in a friend's hot tub.[13][14] Approximately one week later, an intoxicated Hanneman showed the arm to his wife, who recalled "...and I just freaked out when I saw (it). It was bright red and three times the normal size. I said, 'Jeff, we need to go now. We need to get you to the ER.' But all he wanted to do was go to bed and sleep...". The following morning she convinced him to seek medical attention inLoma Linda and it was learned thatamputation was one possible outcome. At one point, Hanneman was placed in a medically-induced coma.[15] Prior to surgery, hospital staff informed his wife that he may not survive. Though he did survive, his wife says the illness hindered his ability to play guitar, leading to depression "and he started to lose hope".[16]
In light of his illness and Slayer's upcoming participation in the AustralianSoundwave Festival tour that was set to begin on February 26, 2011, the band made the decision to play the dates without Hanneman, and on February 16, 2011, brought onGary Holt (Exodus) to fill in for him.[17]Pat O'Brien (Cannibal Corpse) joined as Slayer's temporary second guitarist when Holt left the tour to play with Exodus.[18] In 2012, bandmateTom Araya announced Hanneman's recovery from the infection, though a later update on the band's official website noted that it had "devastated his well-being".[15] In February 2013, King revealed that Hanneman was still battling health issues that prevented him from performing.
Hanneman died ofliver failure on May 2, 2013, in a Southern California hospital near his home.[19][20] On May 9, 2013, the official cause of death was announced as alcohol-relatedcirrhosis. Hanneman and his family had apparently been unaware of the extent of the condition until shortly before his death.[21] Slayer expressed shock, stating in a release that "it appeared that he had been improving – he was excited and looking forward to working on a new record."[15] Holt eventually became Hanneman's permanent replacement in Slayer.
In 1989, Hanneman married Kathryn inLas Vegas.[citation needed] They had met in 1983 before the release of the debut albumShow No Mercy, during a Slayer show inBuena Park, California.[8]
Hanneman was a reserved person when he was offstage. Unlike the other members, he was very selective in socializing and rarely gave interviews. As vocalist/bassist Araya said: "If he didn't like you, he wouldn't hang with you."[8]
Hanneman's interest in German war medals andNazi Germany was illustrated by many of his lyrics. Those interests in theWehrmacht andWaffen-SS began with medals given to him by his father, including some taken from dead German soldiers.[22][23] His most prized medal was hisKnight's Cross, which he had bought from a Slayer fan for $1,000.[23] While touring withMotörhead, Hanneman discovered Motörhead vocalistLemmy's interest in medals, and the two discussed medal designs, weapons and tactics used by theWehrmacht.[5]
Hanneman's lyrics for the song "Angel of Death" led to accusations of Slayer being Nazi sympathizers.[24] Hanneman defended himself with "I know why people misinterpretit — it's because they get this knee-jerk reaction to it. When they read the lyrics, there's nothing I put in the lyrics that says necessarily [Josef Mengele] was a bad man, because tome — well, isn't that obvious? I shouldn't have to tell you that."[5] The band has stated numerous times that they are not Nazis and do not condone Nazism.[25]
Hanneman's major influences included hard rock and heavy metal bands likeLed Zeppelin,Iron Maiden,Judas Priest,[5]Black Sabbath[7] andAerosmith,[26] andhardcore punk actsWasted Youth,Minor Threat,[27]Dead Kennedys,Black Flag andT.S.O.L.,[5] which heavily influenced his contributions to Slayer's 1996 albumUndisputed Attitude. Hanneman's and King's dualguitar solos have been called "wildly chaotic",[28] and "twisted genius".[29]South of Heaven featured "more technical"guitar riffs, utilizing the aforementionedtremolo picking and down-picked notes, improving musicianship while retaining a melodic sense. Both Hanneman and King were ranked number 10 inGuitar World's "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists of All Time".
Hanneman wrote the music for most of the band's fan favorites, songs such as "Angel of Death", "Raining Blood", "Die by the Sword", "South of Heaven", "War Ensemble", "Postmortem", "Dead Skin Mask" and "Seasons in the Abyss", which have all become staples for live performance at Slayer shows. Hanneman's favorite album wasReign in Blood, and he enjoyed performing the songs "Raining Blood" and "Angel of Death".[5] He contributed lyrics and music to every Slayer album, having formed a music and lyric writing partnership with Araya, which sometimes overshadowed King's creative input.[24]
When writing new material, the band writes the music before the lyrics.[5] Hanneman often composed riffs at his house, using a24-track and adrum machine and then by gathering opinions from the other band members; King and Lombardo made suggestions of alterations. The band will play the riff to get the basic song structure, and then figure out where the lyrics and solos go.[5] Hanneman stated that writing lyrics and music is a "free for all"; "It's all just whoever comes up with what. Sometimes I'll be more on a roll and I'll have more stuff, same with Kerry – it's whoever's hot, really. Anybody can write anything; if it's good we use it, if not we don't."[5]
Hanneman's guitar work had a notable influence on heavy metal music and culture. Musicians such asRobb Flynn[30] (Machine Head),Dino Cazares[30] (Fear Factory,Divine Heresy),Mille Petrozza[31] (Kreator),Andreas Kisser[32] (Sepultura),Dan Lilker[33] (Anthrax,Nuclear Assault),Eric Hoffman[33] (Amon/Deicide),Trevor Peres[33] (Obituary),Mark Morton[34] (Lamb of God) and Kelly Shaefer[33] (Atheist) cited him as an influence on their playing and songwriting.Jeff Walker said that "Hanneman's playing and riff writing and attitude has had a big impact onCarcass".[33]Shavo Odadjian declared that "without Jeff Hanneman, there would be noSystem of a Down".[35]
John Consterdine ofTerrorizer magazine noted: "without Jeff Hanneman, Slayer certainly would not have created some of the most famous riffs in metal, which undoubtedly changed the entire genre".[36] According to Jeff Kitts ofGuitar World, he "influenced a generation and changed the course of metal forever".[8]Alex Webster ofCannibal Corpse, who considers Hanneman his major influence as a composer,[37] regarded him as "one of the greatest musicians and songwriters in metal"[38] andAlexi Laiho ofChildren of Bodom described him as "one of the fathers of metal".[39]
Alex Skolnick ofTestament asserted that he "wrote some of the best riffs of all time"[39] and "he impacted music in such a way that an entire genre will never be the same".[40] According toCorey Taylor ofSlipknot andStone Sour, Hanneman is "one of the most underrated writers and underrated players that ever was"[39] whileSlash ofGuns N' Roses andVelvet Revolver defined him "the king of thrash/speed metal guitar".[41]
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