Heavy metal community mourns Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman

Heavy metal gods and rock stars are taking to Twitter to pay tribute to Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman who died of liver failure Thursday following complications from a spider bite.

The thrash metal group broke the news to fans on its Facebook page with a post that said Slayer is devastated to inform that their bandmate and brother Jeff Hanneman passed away at about 11AM this morning near his Southern California home.

Our Brother Jeff Hanneman May He Rest In Peace the band said.

On Thursday and Friday mournful messages poured from Slayer contemporaries like Anthrax and Megadeath and other acts influenced by Hanneman s songwriting and ferocious style.

Hanneman who founded Slayer with guitarist Kerry King in 1982 nearly lost his right arm after a spider bit him in 2011.

PHOTOS STARS GONE TOO SOON

After initially leaving the bite untreated the musician was plagued by health problems for the next two years but appeared to be recovering and had been writing songs recently for an upcoming Slayer album.

R.I.P Jeff Hanneman the band Metallica said in a statement.

Slayer is devastated to inform that their bandmate and brother Jeff Hanneman passed away at about 11AM this... fb.me/x8bXmzyH

Slayer ( Slayer) May 2 2013 Kevin Winter/Getty Images Hanneman suffered health problems after a spider bit him on the right arm in 2011.

Tonight one less star will be shining and sadly the stage got just a little bit darker. Jeff Hanneman 1964 2013.

Dave Mustaine ( DaveMustaine) May 3 2013

Tragic shocking news about Jeff Hanneman. He is going to missed by so many. What a sad day for Metal. RIP man.

Slash ( Slash) May 2 2013

RELATED SLAYER GUITARIST JEFF HANNEMAN DEAD AT 49

RT scott_ian Brutal news about Jeff. Like a punch in the gut. Tonight will be a proper send off for our... fb.me/1E8IXJfIg

Anthrax (Band) ( Anthrax) May 3 2013

Just heard the sad news about Jeff Hanneman of Slayer.My condolences to his family the band and all his friends and fans..RIP

Nikki Sixx ( NikkiSixx) May 3 2013

R.I.P. Jeff Hanneman brother in thrash.

Testament ( testament) May 2 2013

RIP Jeff. We had some good times way back when One of the best song/riff writers ever. Heavy Metal LEGEND twitpic.com/cnoyog

Jamey Jasta ( jameyjasta) May 2 2013

RIP Jeff Hanneman. Slayer is devastated to inform that their bandmate and brother Jeff Hanneman passed away at... fb.me/2zQFuwgDv

Pantera ( Pantera) May 2 2013

We're saddened by the death of slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman. Our prayers and best wishes to Slayer and Jeff's family.

Papa Roach ( paparoach) May 2 2013

R.I.P. Jeff Hanneman. This is rough news. Hanneman wrote the Slayer songs we all loved the most. Condolences to the Slayer crew.

Danko Jones ( dankojones) May 2 2013 ON A MOBILE DEVICE WATCH VIDEO HERE

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