Slayer is giving *Hell Awaits* the royal treatment for its 40th anniversary, and if you’re a diehard fan, you’re going to want to clear some shelf space *. The thrash legends’ second studio album — the one that dropped in 1985 and went on to sell over a million copies worldwide — is getting reissued in a deluxe vinyl box set that’s absolutely loaded with goodies *. We’re talking three 12-inch records in a slip lid box: the original album remastered from the 1985 master tapes on fire splatter vinyl in a gatefold sleeve, plus a previously unreleased full live show from Bochum 1985 spread across two 180-gram black vinyl records *. That live set clocks in at 18 songs, so you know it’s going to rip *.
But wait, there’s more — and we mean *more* *. The box set also includes a 60-page booklet packed with photos and liner notes by J. Bennett, a slipmat, two posters, a newsletter replica, a merch sheet replica, two flyers, a tour laminate replica, and even a ticket replica *. If you’re more of a CD person (hey, no judgment), there’s also a 3-CD earbook edition with the same content across three discs and that same 60-page book *. For the purists who just want the vinyl without all the extras, a standard 12-inch reissue is available featuring eight tracks including the bonus cut “Haunting the Chapel” *. Metal Injection’s merch store has the exclusive box sets up for pre-order now, with orders shipping May 15, 2026 *.
*Hell Awaits* earned critical praise from AllMusic, The Rolling Stone Album Guide, and Rock Hard back in the day, and Metal Blade Records CEO Brian Slagel confirmed it moved over a million units worldwide *. Four decades later, this album still sounds like it could peel paint off the walls, and this anniversary edition is a fitting tribute to one of thrash’s most essential early records *.