Well, we've made it to #1. For the past month (or so), we've been celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Metal Blade Records. A ton of releases to sort through since founder/CEO Brian Slagel and crew forged the fire in mom’s garage in 1982! And the countdown has been a tremendous success thanks to you as thousands have joined us to reminisce, relish and debate some of the finest slabs in the history of heavy metal! So here's what we've all been waiting for, the #1 Metal Blade Release of all time according to BraveWords.com!

Drum roll please...

#1 SLAYER - Hell Awaits (1985)

By "Metal" Tim Henderson

I remember buying this upon release (September 1st) as plain as day. But you see, I delayed on Show No Mercy at the time. New band, another Satanic logo, devilish leanings and that weird creature on the cover… but soon the vinyl purchase made the shortlist; such was the life of a teenager with a limited budget. Keep in mind, sussing out these early albums relied on word of mouth; no radio, video or MP3! And being from a small town just north of Toronto, there was a much smaller metalhead pool to swim in. You cherry-picked based on the artwork on these original offerings, staring at you out of your local shop – if you were lucky enough that they stocked imports. Of course it didn’t take long for Show No Mercy to sink in and the power of Slayer began to set like cement, hence it being #2 on our list. Artwork wasn’t the only selling point now. But much better things were on the horizon as the Haunting The Chapel EP signaled. And then the next full-length (yes, Live Undead was in that pile too)… Hell Awaits. Cool title. Check. That eerie cartoon of these devilish creatures devouring the corpses and the striking red/yellow/brown vision of all places south of heaven. Check. And the music…

The intro was an exorcism gone awry, and as a kid it was easy to fall for any kind of weird, Satanic-like audio trickery. But this sound-bite came from another place, from a band committed to their fine art. Sure, speed was key during the ‘80s thrash movement and when you had an ace-in-the-hole like the drum tornado, Dave Lombardo, everything else easily slipped into place, aided and betted by those dual axes from Kerry King/Jeff Hanneman, inspired by the UK Metal Gods and the inverted nature of Mercyful Fate. Let’s not forget the presence of a frontman in Tom Araya, delivering the sermon with maniacal intent.

Yes, it was all starting to make sense.

The captivating intro of the title cut ‘Hell Awaits’ played backwards actually revealed the repeated phrase “Join us” (as a kid I always thought the voices were crying “Slay God”) and as the tune picked up velocity you were drawn into the band’s serpent sermon as another voice beckoned before the tribal bashing, “WELCOMEEEEEE BACK!!!” Sure, everyone points at Reign In Blood, but the devil’s spawn germinated here, and each individual song on the album becomes a majestic thrash moment. The title track still sends splinters into my spine, the chugging rhythms building into a monument of extreme metal. And right at the three minute mark, the heavens are attacked. And soon the following prayer is uttered and stuck in permanent memory: “Pray to the moon... when it is round; Death with you shall then abound; What you seek... for can’t be found; In sea or sky or underground.”

The horror of ‘Kill Again’, the bloodthirsty feast of ‘Necrophiliac’ and who can forget the unstoppable violence of ‘Praise Of Death’ with the unforgettable lyrical exortation, “Running and hunting and slashing and crushing and searching and seeing and stabbing and shooting and thrashing and smashing and burning destroying and killing and bleeding and pleading then death.” A work of beauty!

Nothing sounded like Slayer. No band spoke to me like Slayer.

‘At Dawn They Sleep’ is a masterwork, nearly seven minutes of zombie ritual, slowly gathering the corpses for the ultimate blood feast. The rarely heard ‘Crypts Of Eternity’ is a swirling frenzy, a poisonous pill that smashes into yet another Hanneman-penned musical monster called ‘Hardening Of The Arteries’. Eventually, we come full circle back to the tribal gathering of demons dancing around inverted crosses with a ‘Hell Awaits’ reprise.

Just over a year later the thrash kingpins would release their desert island classic, Reign In Blood. Yes indeed, life had changed for those of us that dared to enter the Slaytanic circle.

And that is why Hell Awaits effortlessly quaked to #1 on BraveWords.com’s Top 30 Metal Blade Releases Of All Time.

BraveWords.com

Top 30 Metal Blade Releases Of All Time

#30) FALCONER – Falconer (2001)

#29) KING’S X – Black Like Sunday (2003)

#28) LETHAL – Programmed (1990)

#27) SACRIFICE – Apocalypse Inside (1993)

#26) CANNIBAL CORPSE – Kill (2006)

#25) THE RED CHORD - Fed Through The Teeth Machine (2009)

#24) THE CROWN – Deathrace King (2000)

#23) VADER – Revelations (2002)

#22) GWAR – Scumdogs Of The Universe (1990)

#21) FATES WARNING – Awaken The Guardian (1987)

#20) CATTLE DECAPITATION – Humanure (2004)

#19) PRIMORDIAL – To The Nameless Dead (2007)

#18) BRAINSTORM – Liquid Monster (2005)

#17) CIRITH UNGOL – One Foot In Hell (1986)

#16) THE ORGANIZATION – The Organization (1993)

#15) KING DIAMOND – The Puppet Master (2003)

#14) BLACK DAHLIA MURDER – Unhallowed (2003)

#13) SIX FEET UNDER – Warpath (1997)

#12) BOLT THROWER – Those Once Loyal (2005)

#11) AS I LAY DYING - Frail Words Collapse (2003)

#10) GRIP INC. – Nemesis (1997)

#9) FLOTSAM AND JETSAM – Doomsday For The Deceiver (1986)

#8) AMON AMARTH – With Oden On Our Side (2006)

#7) GOATWHORE – Carving Out The Eyes Of God (2009)

#6) MERCYFUL FATE – 9 (1999)

#5) TROUBLE – The Skull (1985)

#4) CANNIBAL CORPSE – Tomb Of The Mutilated (1992)

#3) TROUBLE – Psalm 9 (1984)

#2) SLAYER - Show No Mercy (1983)

#1) SLAYER - Hell Awaits (1985)