Jeff Hanneman

There was once a metal world without Slayer, as hard as that is to imagine. That world changed forever with this album. Show No Mercy is a giant’s first loud footstep.

Ten years ago today Slayer’s iconic guitarist and songwriter Jeff Hanneman died. Just days before we were set to go to the print, we scrapped the planned issue and instead printed a nine-page tribute to Hanneman. Here it is.

Remembering one of extreme metal’s most iconic figures, Slayer‘s Jeff Hanneman, five years after his death.

Slayer‘s cryptic video message has left the future of the band unclear.

There are not many perfect albums in heavy metal history, but Slayer’s Reign in Blood is one of them. Personally, in this writer’s opinion, when it comes to the greatest metal album of all time, it’s a toss-up between Reign in Blood, Master of Puppets, Ride the Lightning, and Paranoid. We’re dealing with an untouchable album here. Well, near untouchable, as Decibel’s Andrew Bonazelli had the brilliant idea for a new way for us to argue about our favorite metal records: why not rank the songs on each Decibel Hall of Fame inductee? Sure, why not?

Sometimes a little cleaning can unearth big finds. During my latest attempt at restoring some order to the house of CDs I live in, I came across a stack of old CDR’s that contained the archives of my old radio show, Hellraiser’s Ball, at USC’s student run radio station, KSCR (1560 AM!). One of those…

We all come to grips with death in our own way.  Personal loss has informed much of our favorite music, and last month a much more widely experienced sense of loss affected the heavy music community when Jeff Hanneman passed away.  Artist Justin Bartlett’s tribute to the late guitar hero came about as an online…

When it comes to creativity and vision, the best of us don’t compromise. It’s easy to shift and jump on a trend to make a buck, or follow blindly when someone promises a path to success. It’s a path many of us would take. Those destined to make a mark never compromise on their vision,…