Slayer, a famous rock band, have had to postpone the recording of their new album to allow their guitarist to recover, as he struggles to battle a flesh eating disease.
There's no way we'd go into a studio without him. As a band we're not going to do something without him...
Jeff Hanneman, the Slayer guitarist, was forced to leave the band’s 2011 tour in February after a diagnosis showed he was suffering from necrotising fasciitis, which is a rare bacterial virus which eats away at skin, fat, and body tissue, it is believed he caught it from a spider bite.
Tom Araya, the bands front man, has revealed that the guitarist needed skin grafts on his arm to correct the damage caused by the disease.
Hanneman’s condition means that the band has had to delay the recording the new album, and Araya has been adamant they will not work on new material without him adding, "There's no way we'd go into a studio without him. As a band we're not going to do something without him...
"We require his musical skills, his writing skills. He's an integral part of the band. So we're going to hold off until he's at 100 per cent and can join that process and be part of it."
Hanneman made a surprise appearance with Slayer back in April at a show in California and Araya hopes the gig reminded fans about the guitarist's plight: "It was a big deal for him to play - for us it was, too,.
"We thought that would be a nice surprise for everybody and also make everybody aware that he's still there."
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