SLAYER — Hell Awaits (review)

SLAYER — Hell Awaits album cover Album · 1985 · Thrash Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Warthur
Slayer enjoy better production standards and - for the most part - up the speed on Hell Awaits, though that said the opening portions of the title track include some slow doomy riffs which provide a precedent for their occasional excursions into slower material later in their career. Tom Araya spits out his harsh vocals at breakneck pace, his words tripping over themselves to keep up with the furiously fast playing, and the album as a whole presents some of the fastest thrash ever.

It's also the album where, to my ears at least, Slayer sounded the most like their thrash competition in Megadeth and Metallica, with portions reminiscent of the muscular, aggressive sounds of Kill 'Em All and Killing Is My Business. On their next release they would explode into their own, unique sonic universe but Hell Awaits remains an enduring album in the archetypal early thrash style.
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