Slayer - Hell Awaits [Remastered]

With their second album, co-produced by Metal Blade's headbanging head honcho Brian Slagel, Satanic thrashers Slayer upped the ante from their debut in every way. More graphic album art, breakneck tempos, gruesome lyrics, and proper production gave the band a punchier sound while retaining their native aggression. Whereas their debut sounded like a band flirting with the dark side, HELL AWAITS is where the band begins to sound truly sinister and evil. Dave Lombardo's famous double bass drumming strongly came into play here, further propelling the lightspeed riffing and twisted solos of Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, who would help propagate a style of carpal tunnel-inducing axework for forthcoming generations of extreme metal bands. To accompany this metal maelstrom, bassist Tom Araya appropriately growled and barked out all manner of dark lyrics, exploring the mind of a serial killer ("Kill Again"), vampires (the slower, moodier "At Dawn They Sleep") and the demented lust of a "Necrophiliac." Wisely, the band knew when to mix up their tempos and keep things from sounding homogenized. HELL AWAITS is definitely one of the '80s high water marks for both black and thrash metal.

On "Hell Awaits", the band has crafted a slab of satanic Thrash Metal-perfection! Why the Metal-world didn't hail it as a masterpiece like they did with "Reign In Blood" is beyond me. Opener 'Hell Awaits' is still one of the most foreboding intros to any Metal-song…Ever! That might be why the band still chooses to open with that song on occasion. Then, of course, there are the vampiric riffs of 'At Dawn They Sleep', which strike like venomous snakes in your spine. There is also some innovative double-bass by His Lombardoness on several songs like at the 4:20 mark on 'Praise Of Death', which Easily rivals 'Angel Of Death' imo. Personal favorite 'Necrophiliac' has one of the most demonic riffs ever in the verse parts, dark and bleak, and fast, as Slayer could only do. Everything about this album has "legendary" written all over it. And while it is highly praised to this day, it's a crime that it was overshadowed by ''Reign In Blood'' as much as it was. [Amazon]

Back in the days of spikes, make-up and inverted crosses. Back before they were "discovered" by a competent producer. They were pretentious, arrogant and absolutely brilliant. This is possibly the most evil sounding album Slayer ever put out. It is layered with some of the most demonic riffs and solos ever put to record. It has elements of the burgeoning black metal scene of the time, death metal, thrash and speed metal.

The musicianship, especially the drumming far exceeds that on their debut. The songs are long by Slayer standards, have some complex arrangements and the bass is much more prominent than usual. It is not your typical Slayer record. The production is completely different to anything else they ever did but compliments the music perfectly.

The album reeks of the pseudo Satanism popular at the time. As the title suggests the album evokes images of the darkest depths of hell, the psychotic mind and references to murder, vampirism and intimate encounters with the dead abound. It was also the beginning of the "Kill, Kill, Kill" phrase much plagiarised across metal genres in the coming years.

Despite the outward anger if you listen carefully it is still a very introspective album questioning the motives for the actions described in the lyrics. It taps into the most primitive need for religion and the natural rebellion against it. It is a depressive body of music leaving the listener with little hope except to act against whatever stands in front of you. They had yet to fully grow into themselves musically and refine their song writing skills but the album tells the story of the underground metal scene at the time and puts many of the sub-genres which only took off later in the decade into perspective.

It was a key album as it managed to get them noticed by producer Rick Rubin who took them on to far greater things. It was incredibly instrumental in its influence on countless bands to follow. This is not an album for everyone. Many younger Slayer fans may not fully appreciate the importance of this album or the great forward leap it took from Show No Mercy, but the anger, hatred and intensity is undeniable.

[MetalStorm. score: 7.8/10]

Hell Awaits indeed!

"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 darker, more satanic Slayer. Everything got turned up a notch and their trademark sound was comprehensively built upon with enthusiasm and raw talent.

I don't think there is a better introduction to an album than "Hell Awaits". It's no coincidence that the band started with this track for their also classic live album "Decade of Aggression". The words "join us" repeated over and over backwards in what sounds like a background of Hell itself. Then the guitars take over. Each subsequent riff is pure unadulterated Slayer and segues perfectly into the next until it builds up to climax and payoff, all before a single word is spoken. Other highlights for me are "Kill Again" and "Necrophiliac", both demonstrating the more ferocious side to this legendary band, but there are no filler tracks to be found.

I must admit that it took quite some time for this album to get its claws into me. I always preferred "Show No Mercy" and well…nothing compares with the legendary "Reign in Blood" that would soon follow. And yet 20 years on and this album really stands up tremendously well. What seemed fairly raw and chaotic at times when I was a teenager is now such a breath of fresh air when compared to the mechanical, occasionally lifeless proficiency of the modern generation of metal. That's not to say this is messy, as Slayer were a well-oiled machine by this stage and Dave Lombardo in particular could never be anything but perfect. It's just that there are riffs and solos flying everywhere. Tom seems to be struggling to keep up with the shredding music at times while blasphemously screaming out his lyrics. There's very much a live sound throughout with a production that just oozes passion and hunger. This is thrash in its purest form and I love it more than ever. [Amazon user review]