Slayer - Hell Awaits

Watch Him Die!!

This is one of SLAYER's best albums, back when they were playing 200 mph.
SLAYER is one of the only true metal bands left.
The whole album grabs you and makes you beg for mercy.
I rate this album a 10 from 1to10!! May 22, 2008

From Good to Devastating.

What a leap in songwriting maturity from Show to Hell.
Better songwriting, more epic.
More frightening lyrics.
An album cover which still frightens.
All the elements from Show,amplified ten times over.
Slayer's second best, no doubt.
Not a weak track on the disc and a must for Slayer fans. May 16, 2008

Great Early Slayer

Just another great album by Slayer. Slayer is a band you either love or hate. If you like this album then you will probably like all of their other albums except perhaps for 'Undisputed Attitude' because it's mostly punk cover songs. Slayer has always been consistant in style and quality: they just never sold out like other speed/thrash bands like Metallica, etc. Otherwise, every album by Slayer rocks and this one is just as great with songs like 'Hell Awaits', 'Praise Of Death' and 'Necrophiliac.' The ultimate mosh band. Enjoy! April 7, 2008

The Best but the Re-Release Is a Rip-Off

I saw Slayer for the first time in March 1985 at the Showplace in Dover, NJ, on the short pre-HELL AWAITS tour. It remains one of my all-time shows. Some awesome biker dude helped me and friend to climb the PA, where we sat the entire show, on the side of the stage, with a bird's-eye view of Lombardo and the band.

At the time SHOW NO MERCY had become a classic among my friends, and when HAUNTING THE CHAPEL came out and showed so much progress with the musicianship, lyrics, and songwriting, it was clear that Slayer could be soon be the best metal band on the planet. So I eagerly awaited the release of HELL AWAITS, my appetite whetted by hearing some songs off this album at that live show. I picked up the album the week it came out and from the moment I heard the title track I knew it meant world domination. It is my favorite Slayer album, even though the band reached new heights all around with REIGN IN BLOOD. There's no denying REIGN is a classic, but people might forget that HELL AWAITS showed some serious development. In fact, the progression from SHOW NO MERCY to HELL AWAITS is greater in my opinion than HELL AWAITS to REIGN, and for that reason HELL AWAITS is the greatest Slayer album. Yeah, the production quality was never good, but that lends it the old school feel that I love. Metal bands couldn't afford to pay for good production back then so I'll take authenticity over sound quality in this case.

However, buyer beware with the 2004 reissue. First, to my ears there is very little difference in sound quality between the original CD release and the 2004 reissue. It just isn't ear-opening at all. The sound quality hasn't changed much after the "remaster." Second, and I hate when record companies do this (Megaforce is seriously guilty as well), Metal Blade didn't include all the original artwork in the re-release. Gone is the photo collage with Araya doing a line of coke on the bar and King sticking his finger up Michael Jackson's nose. Why would you re-release an album and not include the original artwork? Third, what, Metal Blade or the band couldn't put some extra tracks on this mofo? There are no alternate versions? No demos? And how about an essay or two to put the album in context? Finally, for all that it lacks the price of this CD is outrageous. Shouldn't this be a super saver by now? Keep your old copy and wait for Metal Blade to really re-release this. They're just trying to rip you off. March 5, 2008

One of the Best Albums of 1985

1985 was a good year for metal. CELTIC FROST had "To Mega Therion", EXODUS released thier first album "Bonded by Blood", VENOM was still around with "Possessed", and SLAYER put out the thrash/speed metal classic, "Hell Awaits". The album begins with a slow fade into the monstrous sounds of suffering and fire in hell. A demon yells it's blasphemy and we now here the beginning of the song, "Hell Awaits". The title track possibly has one of the longest intros to a song and what a great intro it is. SLAYER builds the opener with a barrage of mid tempo riffs and thundering bass. Then the band switches into high gear and all hell breaks loose. Tom Araya is at his most fast and furious with his singing and Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King play some of the fastest guitar work at the time. Next is "Kill Again". Another tune with a rather long build up but, it's good. This album has a lot of parts with just music and no singing which means there are lots of parts where you just thrash out! "At Dawn They Sleep" Is one of SLAYER's best songs ever. Lots of cool time changes in this song. "Praise of Death" is very brutal. It pounds you with a gallopping drum beat and a killer riff and is also fraught with many time changes. "Necrophiliac" is a love song with a dead body. This song is also a SLAYER classic. "Crypts of Eternity" is an ignored song I think. Personally, I would say that this song sounds a little like IRON MAIDEN. There are a couple of duel leads. The sructure of the track seems similar to what MAIDEN would do but, that's not a bad thing. SLAYER liked early IRON MAIDEN and this song is just evidence of SLAYER's musicianship. The cd closes with "Hardening of the Arteries". The shortest song on this very short album but, don't worry, it's a great tune. I would like to give this album a five but I can't because it's not a very long album. Plus, it only has seven songs. I really think SLAYER could have put more on "HELL AWAITS". If you have the band's box-set, you know what I'm talking about. The length of the album is the only problem I have with it. All the songs are good. I'll tell ya something else that makes this record stand out among the rest. Tom Araya's bass tone is clean on this album. You can really here him. He also plays very well. He's not just mimicking the guitars. Some of Tom's best bass playing is on this album. "Hell Awaits" is one of those albums that you have to have. Don't be a poser, just get it and be cool. June 17, 2007

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