GARY HOLT: I Am 'Forever Honored To Have Been A Part Of' SLAYER

Gary Holt says that he is "forever honored to have been a part of" SLAYER.

The guitarist, who is also a member of San Francisco Bay Area thrash icons EXODUS, has been the touring axeman for SLAYER since January 2011 when Jeff Hanneman contracted necrotizing fasciitis, also known as flesh-eating disease, from a spider bite in his backyard. The infection ravaged the flesh and tissues of Hanneman's arm, leading to numerous surgeries, skin grafts and intense periods of rehab that forced him into semi-retirement and left him near death at several points.

Hanneman eventually died in May 2013 from alcohol-related cirrhosis of the liver. He is credited for writing many of SLAYER's classic songs, including "Angel Of Death" and "South Of Heaven".

SLAYER played its last-ever concert at The Forum in Inglewood, California on Saturday night (November 30) during the second of two last tour dates dubbed "The Final Campaign". The next day, Gary took to his Instagram to thank the rest of SLAYER, their crew and the band's fans for supporting him while he trekked around the world with the legendary thrash metal act and promising to "destroy the world" with EXODUS's next album.

"Now that the final show has come and gone, I just want to send a heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported me stepping into this monster called SLAYER," he wrote in part. "[Saturday] night was a whirlwind of emotions for all four of us. I want to thank [Tom Araya], [Paul Bostaph] and Kerry Fucking King. I will miss so much more than just sharing a stage with you guys. I'll miss the jokes, the penalty shots for our onstage fuck ups, the philosophical discussions, the fart jokes, the millions of laughs, the songs, the bus ride movies and more shots. MASSIVE love to all three of you.

"And to the SLAYER fans, thanks for making me feel welcome, it’s been a special and magnificent metal journey. Three epidurals, seven cortisone injections, trigger point injections, all to keep me in raging mode. Worth every second of the pain. Forever honored to have been a part of this band. But I never wanted this. Jeff should have been there. I just held down the fort for him.

"And all my boys in EXODUS, you are my family, and this wayward son is coming home! New EXODUS is a world destroyer. See you in Europe in February!"

Holt did not contribute to the songwriting process on SLAYER's latest album, 2015's "Repentless", although he did lay down guitar solos on most of the album's twelve tracks.