EXODUS Guitarist To Perform With SLAYER At 'Big Four' Show In California

April 21, 2011

Gary Holt from veteran San Francisco Bay Area thrashers EXODUS will once again act as SLAYER's guest guitarist for this Saturday's (April 23) "Big Four" show in Indio, California, temporary filling in for Jeff Hanneman who is still recovering from surgery.

In a recent interview with Austria's Stormbringer.at webzine, SLAYER drummer Dave Lombardo stated about the decision to hire Holt as the initial temporary replacement for Hanneman, who is recovering from an infection thought to have been caused by a spider bite, "Well, that was a hard decision to make. We had to think to ourselves, 'Do we cancel — again? Or what do we do? Do we keep going?' It was a difficult decision, but we had to make it — to find a guitar player to take Jeff's place until Jeff gets better. And Gary, really, was a no-brainer — meaning, we didn't have to think about it. Because at Hellfest in France [in 2010], Kerry [King, SLAYER guitarist] and myself were watching EXODUS. And SLAYER and EXODUS go waaay back. We go back to '83 or '84 when we first got together and did shows up in San Francisco together. So we saw Gary play with EXODUS [again last year], and we loved it. And Gary's performance was outstanding. So the first person that came to our minds was Gary — to take the place for Jeff. Again, it was difficult to make that decision, but we had to do it to fulfill our shows; we couldn't cancel again."

Hanneman underwent emergency surgery on his right arm in January. He is now recuperating at home and is expected to make a full recovery. He will return to the SLAYER lineup as soon as he has fully recovered.

While Hanneman's doctors were not able to definitively identify the infection's origin, they diagnosed necrotizing fasciitis, an infection caused by bacteria. According to WebMD, necrotizing fasciitis can destroy skin, fat, and the tissue covering the muscles. The disease sometimes is called "flesh-eating" bacteria.

(Thanks: www.slayerized.com)

Find more on
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).