No its not a bad joke. He died of liver failure. He had be battling complication from the spider bite for over a year. I saw him come out for the encore at the Big 4 in 2011, he was rehabbing from the bite at the time. Also years of heavy drinking.
So go dust off the axe and play/listen to some Slayer or "South of Heaven", "War Ensemble", "Raining Blood", "Angel of Death", "Mandatory Suicide", and "Seasons in the Abyss"
So go dust off the axe and play/listen to some Slayer or "South of Heaven", "War Ensemble", "Raining Blood", "Angel of Death", "Mandatory Suicide", and "Seasons in the Abyss"