Slayer 66 2/3: The Jeff & Dave Years. A Metal Band Biography. (49 page)

After the Indio Big Four concert, Hanneman had been working to come back, but his arm still hadn’t recovered. After the final Big Four concert, he continued a limited rehab regimen. Leading up to the
November 2011 Fun Fest in Austin, Texas
, he practiced with the band for three weeks. Hanneman could ace the slow songs. But when it came to the faster thrash material, he still wasn’t near enough to 100% to earn King’s confidence.

“ [Hanneman’s performance level] wasn't there,” King recalled in the Metal Zone interview. “He played the songs, but if you recorded it, you could definitely tell who's who. And after playing with Holt, who's nailing everything, you can't really take a step backwards… And I think [Hanneman] wants it to be awesome. So, as shitty a decision as it is, that's just how it is."
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Contrary to King’s hopes, the Big Four show at Indio did not permanently inspire Hanneman to work harder. Hanneman wanted to be able to play guitar again. But beyond practicing guitar, he wouldn’t commit to the work.

"I couldn't get Jeff to go to rehab or therapy," Kathryn recalled in
Guitar World
. "I think he was letting the visual of his arm get to his emotions, and it was messing with his mind. It was hard to keep him upbeat at that point.”
^50-2

So as 2011 gave way to 2012, Hanneman remained sidelined at home, practicing guitar and drinking. He sank into a major depression.

" I think he started to learn, once he tried rehearsing, that he wasn't playing up to his ability and that he wasn't able to play guitar at the speed he was used to,” Kathryn said. “And I think that really hit him hard, and he started to lose hope.
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Lombardo found himself on injured reserve, too. In December 2011, shortly before Christmas, he fractured a leg while ice skating with his daughter. He bounced back quickly, and was playing a month later
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.

The band’s profile was at its highest for years, but Lombardo didn’t feel the band was acknowledging his extra effort. Unsatisfied with his paychecks, he hired some help to renegotiate his contract.

King’s foundation was rocked in spring 2012. March 31, King’s longtime guitar tech, Armand B. Crump, died suddenly. He was just 35.

King responded with a rare public emotional moment, issuing a written statement about his unsung behind-the-scenes ace.

"The world lost a great man yesterday,” King wrote in a statement. “It was an incredibly rough day for me, I can't imagine what it was like for his family and Cassie [crump’s longtime girlfriend]. Needless to say, no one saw this coming. I thought I had a great guitar tech until the day I retire. Life is short. Enjoy what you have while you have it…. Love ya, buddy."
^50-5

Members of Guns ‘N Roses, Megadeth, Lamb of God, Testament, and numerous others saluted the tattooed and burly technician, who was widely respected as a knowledgeable, likable professional who did the job right and treated tourmates well. Like his brothers on the Slayer crew, he had a healthy respect for the band and its history.

“He was the best,” wrote Lombardo. “He had to be to work for Kerry King.”
^50-6

In the meantime, Slayer kept Holt on retainer. For Summer 2012, the band mounted a full international tour.

While some fans bristled at the notion of temp in the lineup, the inspired choice of Holt elevated the shows from a must-miss to a must-see. Holt did the material justice, with his axe tuned close to Hanneman settings, without his trademark tone substantially altering the material. Hanneman was hard to fill in for, but not impossible — he worn shin guards at most shows, but it wasn’t like he was known for diving across the stage, skidding on his knees.

So the shows kept coming. That summer, Slayer hit the road as the no. 2 band on the stellar Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Tour, playing with a host of old friends. Slipknot headlined, preceded by Slayer, Motörhead, and Anthrax.

In June 2012, Holt was still filling in for Slayer. That summer, 32 years after the band formed, Exodus played its first shows without Holt, the only member who had been with the band since its beginning.

The members of Exodus never publicly griped about Holt’s absence. And Holt didn’t address it directly at the time. He insisted if push came to shove, he wouldn’t chose Slayer over Exodus if it meant the end of the Bay band.

“Not if it meant the end of what I’ve been doing my whole life,” Holt told Metal Titans later. “If I could manage both, you know… But I’ve been filling in for just over two years now and I’m booked all year with [Slayer]. But I’m just keeping the work going with Exodus and I’ve been doing a lot of riff writing on tour.”
^50-7

(In Summer 2013, with details about the eleventh proper Slayer album up in the air, Exodus announced a new album and tour forthcoming in 2014.)

With Holt committed to Slayer duty, Exodus recruited
Bonded
era guitarist Rick Hunolt to fill in. (Now Exodus had its original drummer, Tom Hunting, back on board. He had been with band for most of its history. When he left, he had been replaced by former Slayer drummer Paul Bostaph, after Lombardo rejoined Slayer.)

Between May and August 2012, Slayer played about 50 shows, with sets at another half-dozen foreign festivals in the fall.

Holt was 47 years old, with a track record of credibility and integrity, so it was hard to begrudge him the house-payment money. That summer, Exodus bounced from foreign fests and clubs to the American Scion Rock Fest tour. If Holt was willing to sit out Exodus gigs, it’s safe to assume the Slayer money was better than the checks from his main band.

Slayer fans were indebted to Holt for the band’s only new music of 2012. July 1 at a home-state show, Slayer covered Exodus’ “Strike of the Beast” from
Bonded by Blood
at Mountain View, CA’s Shoreline Amphitheatre. The band nailed it, though Holt had to remind Araya of some lyrics midway through. Typical for that tour, the set ran:

Intro: “Darkness of Christ”

1. “Disciple”

2. “War Ensemble”

3. “Hate Worldwide”

4. “Mandatory Suicide”

5. “Altar of Sacrifice”

6. “Jesus Saves”

7. “Seasons in the Abyss”

8. “Hell Awaits”

9. “Dead Skin Mask”

10. “Strike of the Beast”

11. “Angel of Death”

Encore:

12. “South of Heaven”

13. “Raining Blood”

The Exodus cover didn’t become a regular part of the set list, but resurfaced during Slayer’s Fall 2013 old-school set. For 2012, Slayer wouldn’t add any new material to the show.

Slayer did end the year with a seminal release. For the holiday season, the group issued an ornate sweater decorated with skulls and pentagrams. The $80 jumper sold out quickly. (At the time, the Slayer camp passed on answering good-natured questions about the yuletide merch.) The next year, a dozen bands followed suit, from Metallica to the mighty Motörhead.

Click here to Google search “Slayer photos 2012”

Chapter 51:

Slayer XII: Embryonic Recording

The year 2012 came and went without new Slayer songs. In February, Lombardo posted on his Facebook page, informing the public the band had written nearly an album worth of new tunes.

“The King and I have seven kick ass songs for you so far, you're going to soil your pants!!!!”
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In June, King told MTV’s Alternative Nation the band had recorded two songs
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.

Around the same time, Lombardo confirmed that he and the guitarist had been chipping away at new material since late 2011. They had been recording with the intent of releasing an EP. Tellingly, the drummer had few details about the business aspects of the potential release.

“When it's going to be released?” Lombardo told
Metal Forces
’ Anthony Morgan. “I don't know. Is it done? I don't know. I know Tom has sung on the songs already, so they're pretty much done. Mixed? I don't know. I don't know the details. I don't know where it stands. It's all a mystery."

He did, however, say the material was on the speedy end of the Slayer spectrum: “The first song is more of a 'War Ensemble' kind of fast. Just the pace, the tempo. That's all I can say… I don't remember the second song that they chose, though."
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With a summer tour to promote, the Slayer camp continued discussing releasing the songs as a large single. But the EP never materialized.

In August, King told Artisan News the two songs had been recorded with Greg Fidelman, the
World Painted Blood
producer whose growing résumé included High on Fire’s
Snakes for the Divine
and credits on Adele’s smash
21
. According to King, over a 12-day window, they had recorded parts of two more tunes, with three demos ready and three songs written but not yet demo’d. (Over a year later, the songs remained unheard; Metallica and U2 songs might leak, but Slayer’s vaults are sealed tightly.)

“Hopefully we'll get [the album] done before we pick up and tour again in October, " King said
^51-4
.

They didn’t.

In January 2013, King finally explained Hanneman’s role — or lack thereof — in the developing album. King gave the scoop to Eddie Trunk, host of
That Metal Show and Friday Night Rocks
, at a Hartke spotlight at the NAMM:

"I have enough material to do it on my own, if need be,” King said. “But I'm open; if Jeff comes to the party with some material, hell yeah, I've got extras…. I'll play all the guitars. But I mean, I've been playing all the guitars for years anyway — except for Jeff's leads."
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In 2012, King revealed to
Metal Zone
’s Nikki Blakk his axework had dominated the albums since the 1990s.

“A lot of the bass, too,” he told Blakk. “It's just that I play quick and I get to the track quick and I don't fuck around and take all day. So at the end of the day it becomes an efficiency issue and I'm very efficient."
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So Slayer XI, when and if it arrived, looked like it would be a King album in the vein of  
God Hates Us All
or
Christ Illusion
.

As 2012 ended, no new Slayer album was on the horizon.

And Hanneman was still at home, recuperating.

And the next thing they knew, Slayer had more pressing business.

Lombardo, 15 years later, playing the Download festival at Donington with Slayer. 2007. UK. Photo by Ester Segarra,
www.e-segarra.com
.

Slayer without Hanneman. 2011. Meet-and-greet in São Paulo, Brazil. L to R: Holt, Lombardo, fan Guilherme Nozawa, and Araya.

Courtesy of Nozawa, www.gbnozawa.com.

Chapter 52:

”Dave’s Not Here” III

“Dave’s acclimated back in the band,” Araya told KNAC.com in 2006. “But that’s not ever going to change how we are. We’re dysfunctional, and that’s never going to change.”
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