Slayer is one of the greatest thrash metal bands of all time. Fans have been expecting Slayer to hit the studio again to record their follow up to, “World Painted Blood”, but due to the tragic passing of Jeff Hanneman, I think it’s time for Slayer to call it quit. Why? It should be what is right for Jeff. Jeff is one of the founding members of Slayer, and that dude is simply irreplaceable. They had a great career and they grew quite a legacy over the years; so it would be a great time to hang it up. I don’t think it would be right for them to continue under the “Slayer” name. If the surviving members want to continue to make albums and tour then they should just change their band name. I mean Jeff was the one who formed Slayer with Kerry King. Maybe Jeff would want them to continue on, who knows. Jeff certainly was a guitar playing great and he was an interesting guy when not playing music. He was probably the most interesting out of all the members in Slayer. If the band wants to earn more respect, then they should hang it up out of respect for Jeff.

That’s what Led Zeppelin did when John Bonham died. Slayer should do the same thing. I think it’s disrespectful when an iconic musician dies in a band and they just continue like Alice In Chains. Slayer may not have been as big as Metallica but they did had a great career. I was pretty late getting into Slayer, honestly. I started getting into them after their Big 4 stuff with Metallica. Then I bought 4 of Slayers albums in Itunes; now it makes me want to collect the rest of their albums.

I’m sure we’ll hear an announcement from Slayer soon on whether or not they’ll continue without Jeff. There can’t be Slayer without Jeff ’cause he is Slayer. Period. End of story. I admire Slayer so much ’cause they were great songwriters and they played their instruments good. They knew what true thrash metal is all about and they played it better than any other metal band. They knew how it was done. Hopefully they do the right thing and hang up the mics.

Kev