I shall spare the introduction, after all every Metal maniac knows about Slayer. I will say that Slayer has sucked balls after “Seasons In The Abyss”. “Hell Awaits” happens to be my favorite Slayer album, followed by “Show No Mercy” and then “Reign In Blood”. Well, enough of my mindless ranting, on to the review.

This album starts out with the classic “Evil Has No Boundaries”, the ear piercing screams of good old Araya are present. “The Antichrist” is yet another classic Slayer tune, showing the true spirit of unholy Black Metal. “Die By The Sword” kicks of next, and this song probably has the best break on the album. Araya’s voice is eerie throughout the whole album. Riffs on this album are top notch, drawing just the right amount of influence from the likes of Judas Priest, but still managing to keep that dark edge. Drumming is killer, from the master himself, but one thing that always kept Slayer from being my favorite band was the rather poor soloing, but I don’t hold it against a band, especially one like Slayer that rely on speed and crunchy riffs more then solos.

Any fan of Speed and Thrash Metal should have this album in their collecting. Personally I find it funny when people talk about how influential Metallica were, when Slayer had their album out the same year, oh well, just pick this classic up.

© 2001 ramrod