Slayer frontman Tom Araya has issued a public warning to a group of "cyberbullies" after discovering they targeted his wife in an online hate campaign.

The rocker was furious when he found his partner Sandra had been victimised by members of an Internet fan group, and he has now recorded a message distancing himself and the band from the bullies.

In the audio message, which was posted on his Facebook.com page, Araya says, "I'd like to talk to you about something that has recently spiraled out of control... There is a group on Facebook that associate themselves with my band, Slayer, claiming to be fans... They call themselves F**king Slayer Gang (or) Fsg. They came into existence about eight months ago and had approached my wife, Sandra, under the guise of a family asking for support...

"The conduct that this group was showing, and has shown, is distasteful, rude and disrespectful to all Slayer and metal fans... My wife... told me that it was not a good idea to associate with this group or sign, that they were cyberbullies and that they would attack anyone who questioned their motives, and have even gone as far as attacking my wife publicly on Slayer fan pages and metal fan pages...

"Well, I'm here to say that... We do not support this gang or such behaviour. The metal community is a growing community of loyal fans, not only to the bands that they support, but to each other."