Jeff Hanneman (1964-2013) - May the sparrows carry you away into the eclipse

It’s been a few hours since he passed away, and I’m still recovering from the shock and disbelief of the news.  A flood of emotions burst through the gates as I sat in my chair and read in utter horror that the musician I’ve admired since the day I first heard metal may no longer be alive – and I say may, not is, because even as I skimmed through the news, I speechlessly hoped every moment of it that it wasn’t true. But no, it is. The reality has set in: Jeff Hannneman, the greatest thrash metal guitarist, has departed the earth.

Grief-struck as I am, this feeling feels almost like losing a family member. The intimacy that I have with Slayer’s music was so alive, and so real, that it took the death of one of its architects to make me realize just how much it meant to me. I have grieved the death of every metal artist worth his pith helmet – from Chuck Schuldiner to Ronnie James Dio – but none to this extent.

I can’t help but recall every few minutes now the day I first heard Slayer. Slayer wasn’t my first thrash metal band; I’d heard Metallica’s Kill ‘Em All before, which didn’t do its magic on me. But Show No Mercy, specifically Black Magic, was, well, like black magic; it blew my fucking brains out like a shotgun. My first reaction to the song that I still remember like yesterday: “I wanna listen to this song until it gives me cancer” – a reaction that remains with me to this day, more than a decade later, every time I hear that and other Slayer songs.

Very few artists have done that to me, and that’s what sets Jeff apart, in my book, from every other musician. He never wrote a bad or a mediocre song. Every time he touched the guitar, he brought it to life, played it with inimitable style, and, most important of all, never repeated himself. There is no “generic” Hanneman. Uh-uh! He created the evil-sounding mood Slayer is known for and injected extremity into metal, never afraid of pushing the limits of what could, or couldn’t, be done – both musically and lyrically. And this is the man who wrote what is generally considered to be the greatest thrash metal song of all time, Raining Blood. Slayer was closer in spirit to death metal than any other thrash band, and after more than a decade of being a death metal fanatic, I have yet to find an album as heavy, as intense and as violent as God Hates Us All – my personal favorite Slayer album.

This is a sad day for metal and metalheads the world over. No matter what good or bad happens to me this year, I will always remember 2013 as the year that we lost Jeff Hanneman. He spent the last few days of his life painfully fighting a painful disease, but may he find eternal peace, and live eternally in our memories.

I dedicate this song to you, my brother. Every word of it. Farewell.

May thy flame burn strong
May thy flame scorch the skies

I am the winds that blow
Earth shattering waves that ever flow
I am the sun that sets
Upon the vast horizon

May the skies open upon your command
Transfixed, I say unto you
May the sparrows carry you away
Into the eclipse
Into the eclipse

I am the moon that ever so shines
In death comes rebirth, now granted in time
I am now floating amongst dream woven clouds
Upon the path of the righteous shrouds

Glory be to your memory
May you fear no longer
All shall bow down in awe
Honor bestowed upon your legacy

The fire of resurrection
Void of burden, no regrets
The fire of resurrection

May you descend upon eternal winds
May the birds speak thy name

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