Slayer Hell Awaits (40th Anniversary) 3CD Earbook

Description

‘Hell Awaits’ is the second studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer, released in March 1985 by Metal Blade Records. The band’s 1983 debut ‘Show No Mercy’ became Metal Blade Records’ highest-selling release, and 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.

The lyrical themes on ‘Hell Awaits’ include hell and Satan, as with their debut; the intro of the title track played backwards reveals the repeated phrase “join us”. Musically, the album features the band’s most progressive and diverse work compared to their previous releases, and according to Kerry King, he and Jeff Hanneman were very into Mercyful Fate at the time, which then led to the longer and more progressive songs.

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.

Limited 3CD Earbook version

60 page Earbook (with tons of photos and liner notes by J Bennett)

Hell Awaits album (1 CD)

Live from Bochum 1985 (2 CDs)

poster

Tracklisting

CD1: ‘Hell Awiats’

1. Hell Awaits

2. Kill Again

3. At Dawn They Sleep

4. Praise Of Death

5. Necrophiliac

6. Crypts Of Eternity

7. Hardening Of The Arteries

CD2: ‘Live from Bochum 1985’

1. Hell Awaits (Live from Bochum 1985)

2. Aggressive Perfector (Live from Bochum 1985)

3. Captor of Sin (Live from Bochum 1985)

4. The Final Command (Live from Bochum 1985)

5. Kill Again (Live from Bochum 1985)

6. Crypts of Eternity (Live from Bochum 1985)

7. Fight Till Death (Live from Bochum 1985)

8. Necrophiliac (Live from Bochum 1985)

9. Haunting the Chapel (Live from Bochum 1985)

10. Hardening of the Arteries (Live from Bochum 1985)

CD3: ‘Live from Bochum 1985’

1. Black Magic (Live from Bochum 1985)

2. Die by the Sword (Live from Bochum 1985)

3. The Antichrist (Live from Bochum 1985)

4. At Dawn They Sleep (Live from Bochum 1985)

5. Show No Mercy (Live from Bochum 1985)

6. Evil Has No Boundaries (Live from Bochum 1985)

7. Chemical Warfare (Live from Bochum 1985)

8. Praise of Death (Live from Bochum 1985)