John Consterdine of "Terrorizer" magazine noted: "without Jeff Hanneman, Slayer certainly would not have created some of the most famous riffs in metal, which undoubtedly changed the entire genre". According to Jeff Kitts of "Guitar World", he "influenced a generation and changed the course of metal forever". Alex Webster of Cannibal Corpse, who considers Hanneman his major influence as a composer, regarded him as "one of the greatest musicians and songwriters in metal" and Alexi Laiho of Children of Bodom described him as "one of the fathers of metal".