Label: Metal Blade

Reissued 5/22/2026, Originally released 1985

Triple red and orange colored vinyl LP pressing housed in gatefold jacket. 40th Anniversary edition includes book, poster, and slipmat. 40th Anniversary CD box set includes three CDs (including the two disc Live From Bochum 1985), a 60-page book, and a poster. “It’s the record where Slayer became Slayer.” That’s what Kerry King says about Hell Awaits. And he knows of what he speaks. As the band’s guitarist, co-songwriter and co-lyricist, he was in the trenches with vocalist/bassist Tom Araya, guitarist Jeff Hanneman (R.I.P.) and drummer Dave Lombardo, creating what has become one of heavy metal’s greatest albums. A significant departure from Slayer’s 1983 debut, Show No Mercy—and every Slayer album that came after it—Hell Awaits is both an outlier and a solidification of form. Show No Mercy was the mission statement, but Hell Awaits is a more developed and intricate execution of Slayer’s speed, chops, and aggression. Now celebrating its 40th anniversary, Hell Awaits is the second studio album by American thrash metal masters, Slayer. The crucial album was initially released on April 8th 1985, by Metal Blade Records, who, in honor of Hell Awaits’s 40th anniversary, will be unleashing unique physical releases, along with a digital release for fans.

Track listing:

1. Hell Awaits
   
2. Kill Again
   
3. At Dawn They Sleep
   
4. Hell Awaits (Live from Bochum 1985)
   
5. Aggressive Perfector (Live from Bochum 1985)
   
6. Captor of Sin (Live from Bochum 1985)
   
7. The Final Command (Live from Bochum 1985)
   
8. Kill Again (Live from Bochum 1985)
   
9. Black Magic (Live from Bochum 1985)
   
10. Die By the Sword (Live from Bochum 1985)
    
11. The Antichrist (Live from Bochum 1985)
12. At Dawn They Sleep (Live from Bochum 1985)
13. Show No Mercy (Live from Bochum 1985)
    
14. Praise of Death
    
15. Necrophiliac
    
16. Crypts of Eternity
    
17. Hardening of the Arteries
    
18. Crypts of Eternity (Live from Bochum 1985)
19. Fight Till Death (Live from Bochum 1985)
    
20. Necrophiliac (Live from Bochum 1985)
21. Haunting the Chapel (Live from Bochum 1985)
    
22. Hardening of the Arteries (Live from Bochum 1985)
    
23. Evil Has No Boundaries (Live from Bochum 1985)
    
24. Chemical Warfare (Live from Bochum 1985)
    
25. Praise of Death (Live from Bochum 1985)