Hell Awaits

Hell Awaits is the second album on which SLAYER, while keeping the previous album’s speed, stepped into more complex, ominous song construction. Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman’s guitars layer sharp riffs and chaotic solos, and Tom Araya’s voice gives the songs an eerie tension. It is a record that deepened a darker worldview than the debut. On the title track “Hell Awaits” and “Kill Again,” not only speed but long-dragging unease and dark air play an important role. Songs like “At Dawn They Sleep,” “Necrophiliac” and “Crypts of Eternity” breathe the band’s deepened expressiveness too. The songs are long and the developments complex, with elements leading to the intricacy of later works visible throughout. Vividly carving SLAYER’s evolution leading to their later explosive perfection, it is an important record.