Slayer Announces ‘Hell Awaits’ 40th Anniversary Reissues

Slayer are celebrating the 40th anniversary of their landmark 1985 album, Hell Awaits, with special reissues set for release on May 15 via Metal Blade Records. The reissue options include an eye-catching $189 limited edition 2-LP blood-filled vinyl pressing (appropriately only 666 copies were pressed), a $124.99 box set featuring a Fire Splatter vinyl, a previously unreleased 1985 live album, and extensive memorabilia, and a more affordable $84.99 CD Earbook edition that includes all the audio from the vinyl box set along with a 60-page book and poster. “It’s the record where Slayer became Slayer,” guitarist Kerry King said in a press release, adding that, “[guitarist] Jeff [Hanneman] and I were still trying to figure out who we were as musicians” while admitting that “we were both infatuated with Mercyful Fate’s Melissa album during the writing process for Hell Awaits.” While the blood-filled vinyl edition is already sold-out, pre-orders for the box sets are available from Metal Blade Records’ merch store. (Consequence of Sound)