Slayer has posted the official word on the death of founding guitarist Jeff Hanneman. Hanneman passed away last week. Though it was known that "liver failure" was at the root of his passing, some had theorized that it was due to the necrotizing fasciitis infection. The band shed a little more light on the circumstances:

We've just learned that the official cause of Jeff's death was alcohol-related cirrhosis. While he had his health struggles over the years, including the recent necrotizing fasciitis infection that devastated his well-being, Jeff and those close to him were not aware of the true extent of his liver condition until the last days of his life. Contrary to some reports, Jeff was not on a transplant list at the time of his passing, or at any time prior to that. In fact, by all accounts, it appeared that he had been improving - he was excited and looking forward to working on a new record.