Hell Awaits

Release type:What's this?
studio album
First released:
1985

Overview Edit

Hell Awaits is the second studio album by the American thrash metal band Slayer, released through Metal Blade Records in 1985. The band's previous release, Show No Mercy, became Metal Blade Records' highest selling release; as a result, producer Brian Slagel desired to release a second Slayer album. To that end, Slagel financed a recording budget (Show No Mercy was paid for by band members) and recruited several experienced producers to help in the studio.

Lyrical themes on Hell Awaits are darker than on Show No Mercy, and included hell and Satan. Musically, the album features the band's most progressive and diverse work compared to their previous releases. Defined as "influential to future extreme metal acts," the most popular songs from Hell Awaits were re-recorded by various underground metal bands and have appeared on several tribute albums. Musicians such as singer Phil Anselmo and drummer Gene Hoglan cite Hell Awaits as an influence.

The Overview appearing in this section is attributed to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell_Awaits. Portions of this Overview may be available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, version 3.0 or any later version, available at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/. Additional terms may apply. See Wikipedia Terms of Use for details.

This particular version Edit

Record label:
unknown
Catalog number:
14031
Release dates:
  • 1985 in United States

Genres

Death Metal, Metal, Rock, Speed Metal, Thrash Metal, Heavy Metal. Vote on Genres

What do Amazon.com customers think?

5 stars Hell Awaits indeed and it's well worth the trip even 20 years later!
"Hell Awaits" is classic Slayer! The confronting horrific imagery, the gruesome lyrics, the awesome shredding riffs, the fantastic crunching drumming, the anger drenched screaming vocals. It's all here in all its glory. This album marked a real step up in ferocity for these US youngsters. After ripping holes in the metal scene with their debut, there was really nothing else for these thrashers to do but try to outdo themselves with its follow-up. This is a faster Slayer, a heavier Slayer, and a …
Written by Ben Stubbs "Horror / Metal Enthusiast"
3 stars THE BEST ALBUM COVER EVER!!!!!
Musically, it's SLAYER, what'ya want? C'mon, production this, sound blah, blah, blah. If you're a fan, you own this, if you're a collector, you gotta get this, LP on VINYL, 'cause the cover-art is the best ever. This damn cover-art has been haunting /terrorizing my memories/sleep since I was 13, and yeah, I was 13 when this came out. I've never seen something so evil. Dude, there's demons ripping people apart, in HELL no less!! Whomever did this album art is a sick son-of-a-bitch. It's absolutel…
Written by T. Mulvihill "Swervedriving"

Track listing Edit

Credits Edit

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Other versions Edit

Hell Awaits 7 tracks format: 1 x CD
catalog number: 14031
release dates: Jan 11 1994
view details
Hell Awaits 9 tracks format: 1 x CD
catalog number: 14031
release dates: 1985 in United Kingdom
view details
Hell Awaits 7 tracks format: 1 x CD
record label: Metal Blade Records
catalog number: 14031
release dates: Jan 11 1994
view details
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