The first Slayer album I heard was Undisputed Attitude,
and now as I think of my relationship with Jeff Hanneman’s music it was
really the perfect introduction. Mostly a collection of punk covers,
there are also two songs from Hanneman’s previous band Pap Smear. To
this day, only Reign In Blood
holds more appeal to me in the entire Slayer canon, because more than
anything, it shows insight into what the members of Slayer are like as
passionate fans of music. It’s the sort of selfish release that I
personally love: An album that highly values nostalgia and aims to
please nobody more than the guys in the recording studio. While I played
drums and mediocre vocals for a variety of musical projects, my
relationship with music has always been a 90/10 fan/musician split.
While idolizing musicians of Hanneman’s stature it’s easy to lose sight
of the details that make them human. Listening to him passionately shred
Minor Threat and D.R.I. songs that inspired him as a young
jersey-wearing guitarist connects with me more than any music video of
the band playing in a blood-spattered room ever has. The metal world is
full of larger-than-life personalities and talents of near-mythic
proportions, but the actual human stories have always been more
interesting to me. Jeff’s story is undeniably tragic, but his impact on
rock music dwarfs the terrible reality of his death. I hope everyone
remembers that they are honoring the memory of a man, not just a
guitarist.
The members of Bison B.C. may have said it best recently: “Hell awaits, brother.”
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