Hopefully being in Slayer comes with a good health insurance plan. Already down one member due to health problems, Slayer may have to cancel the remainder of their Australian tour after Araya's latest trip to the hospital on Saturday night.

The thrash metal pioneers' guitarist Jeff Hanneman is already sitting this leg of the tour out as he recovers from the flesh-eating bug necrotising fasciitis (from which he is expected to make a full recovery). The band decided to tour with stand-in guitarist Gary Holt because they had already cancelled so many shows the last few years due to Tom Araya's bout with back problems. Unfortunately, it looks like they may have to cancel even more dates after Araya was taken to an Austarlian hospital Saturday.

Antimusic reports that after the first night of their performance at the Soundwave festival in Brisbane, Tom Araya was rushed to the hospital to be treated for a severe ear infection. Festival organizers are hopeful Araya will make a speedy recovery because the band is scheduled for three more dates of the touring festival. Whether the band will be able to fulfill that obligation is still unknown at this time.

UPDATE: Tom is back to normal after his brief stay in the hospital and says he is feeling much better and is looking forward to their next show. Slayer was only forced to cancel one of their tour dates.

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