Everything about Hell Awaits totally explained
Hell Awaits is the second
studio album by the American
thrash metal band
Slayer, released through
Metal Blade Records in 1985. The band's previous release,
Show No Mercy, became Metal Blade Records' highest selling release, which influenced producer
Brian Slagel to want to release another album. Slagel financed a recording budget (
Show No Mercy was self-financed by band members) and recruited several experienced producers to help in the studio.
Hell Awaits featured the band's most progressive and diverse work compared to their previous releases, having faster, thrash-oriented songs, and is cited as an influence by many
extreme metal bands. Slagel hired producer
Ron Fair, who worked for
Chrysalis Records, and had seen the band perform live and enjoyed their performance. On seeing Slayer in the studio Fair stated "Wow, these guys are really angry", as he was inexperienced working with heavy metal musicians. Lyrical themes on
Hell Awaits included darker themes than
Show No Mercy, such as
Hell and
Satan - the intro to "Hell Awaits" is a backwards recording of a demonic-sounding voice repeating "Join us," ending with "Welcome back". Araya asserts the album had poor production quality "Nowadays, production-wise, it's so under par. But for what it was at the time, those are amazing records to me. I guess we could go in and redo it. But why ruin it?"
Touring
Slayer embarked on the Combat Tour with
Venom and
Exodus. Exodus guitarist
Gary Holt commented "We immediately bonded with the Slayer guys. It was two bands of friends playing with one band of heroes, you know? We were just star-struck."
Araya entered the bus "hammered out of his mind" according to Lombardo, saying "I gotta take a piss! Where’s the bathroom in this thing?"
E.N.Death of the
blackened death metal band The Deviant from
Norway says the song "Hell Awaits" and Slayer's music in general has influenced him as a musician, ranking the album in his top five. Lenzig Leal of the grindcore band
Cephalic Carnage also ranked the album in his top five. The band
Cradle of Filth covered "Hell Awaits" and released it on the Japanese release of their album
Dusk and Her Embrace, which featured three bonus
covers, "Hell Awaits" being one of them.
Track listing
"Hell Awaits" (Lyrics: Kerry King) (Music: Jeff Hanneman, King) – 6:12
"Kill Again" (Lyrics: King) (Music: Hanneman, King) – 4:53
"At Dawn They Sleep" (Lyrics: Hanneman, King, Tom Araya) (Music: Hanneman) – 6:16
"Praise of Death" (Lyrics: Hanneman) (Music: King) – 5:17
"Necrophiliac" (Lyrics: Hanneman, King) (Music: Hanneman) – 3:43
"Crypts of Eternity" (Lyrics: Hanneman, King, Araya) (Music: Hanneman, King) – 6:37
"Hardening of the Arteries" (Hanneman) – 3:57
Personnel
Tom Araya - Bass, Vocals
Jeff Hanneman - Guitar
Kerry King - Guitar
Dave Lombardo - DrumsFurther Information
Get more info on 'Hell Awaits'.
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