LABEL: Metal Blade VINYL RELEASE DATE: 2021 ORIGINAL RELEASE DATE: 1985 VARIANT: Transparent Orange & Black Split Vinyl LP
In 1985, Slayer dropped their second album, Hell Awaits, onto an unsuspecting world. The band’s debut, 1983’s Show No Mercy, had shown promise, but its NWOBHM-influenced sound was a far cry from the sinister depths that they would plumb on its follow-up. From the title track to “At Dawn They Sleep” to “Necrophiliac,” the album is all killer, no filler, and as such has inspired everyone from Pantera to the innumerable death and black-metal artists that would follow in its unholy wake.