Slayer – Hell Awaits

Hell Awaits is Slayer’s second studio album, released in 1985—and it’s a gnarly, ferocious leap from their debut (Show No Mercy). This record showed the band getting darker, faster, and more complex. It kicks off with that eerie reversed intro leading into the title track, and from there it just gets more intense.

Songs like "At Dawn They Sleep", "Kill Again", and "Necrophiliac" blend thrash with some of the earliest blueprints for what would become death metal. Lyrically, it's soaked in Satanic horror themes, which at the time was pretty shocking and boundary-pushing—even in metal.

The production is raw, but in a way that suits the evil, chaotic vibe. Brian Slagel from Metal Blade produced it, and it really captures that early underground energy. It’s also the last album before Rick Rubin came on board with Reign in Blood and took them to the next level.

Reviews

"True, it was ultimately eclipsed by its peerless successor, Reign in Blood (still largely considered the greatest thrash metal album ever recorded), as an irresistible force, but one could still make a confident point that Hell Awaits' uniquely daunting compositions arguably proved just as influential to future extreme metal acts." Allmusic