Classic Album Review : Slayer - Haunting the Chapel (1984)
Kerry King once claimed in interview that Slayer didn't find their sound until their iconic third album Reign in Blood in 1986. It is technically true, but the underlying ideas that would turn Slayer into arguably the greatest metal icons of all-time south of Black Sabbath were already present in their music. If their debut album Show No Mercy was very much a speed metal record, the transition towards a darker and more extreme sounds is definitely palpable on their classic, often overlooked 1984 EP Haunting the Chapel.
If Haunting the Chapel isn’t more discussed in Slayer's discography, it's because it was a weird project from the start. The band played ass-beating classics Chemical Warfare and Captor of Sin live already, so their producer Brian Slagel (also the head of Metal Blade Records) wanted to record them so that they could make money. It's an EP no one really wanted to make then, but everyone agrees that it's a great thing it exists almost 40 years after its release. It's also where one of Slayer’s best song resides.
So, let's talk about Chemical Warfare and how fucking awesome it is. That song is undoubtedly the crown jewel of Haunting the Chapel and an important part of their live set until their retirement in 2019. Not only it is one of their most furious, freight train of a song, but it's also one of Tom Araya’s most sophisticated pieces of storytelling. Narrating a gnarly nerve gas attack turning soldiers into zombies, the iconic frontman delivers a chorus worthy of a Greek tragedy with ferocity and precision. There's nothing else like it.
Now, the problem with having such an iconic song on such a short recording is that it overshadows the rest. Chemical Warfare is so unapologetically Slayer in its speed, brutality and ghastly, unpredictable atmosphere that it makes a killer song like Captor of Sin sound pale in comparison. It’s a lot less ambitious and relies on anachronistic, high flying guitar antics, but it still has this complex, gritty chorus that ends with a dramatic "BEHOLD… CAPTOR OF SIN". It's goovy and catchy in a way Chemical Warfare isn’t.
Chemical Warfare and Captor of Sin are, arguably, the only two important songs on Haunting the Chapel. Because they are intense and memorable, but also because they play well off each other. Nothing can possibly follow a song like Chemical Warfare on a recording, but the crunchier, mid-tempo approach of Captor of Sin is as good of a follow-up as you can possibly have to such a high-flying skull crusher of a song. It’s one of these songs that could benefit a more contemporary rerecording.
Another fun detail on Haunting the Chapel is the addition of the song Aggressive Perfector on later editions of the record. It had originally only three songs, but It was added because it was only available on Metal Massacre Vol. 3 originally. Why is it a fun detail? Because it's Slayer's first ever song. It's a pretty straightforward speed metal song, but it already shows the band's creativity and forward thinking with dueling guitars. It’s clearing when hearing it that they were destined to reinvent the game.
That leaves us with the title song to close this review with. It's good. It’s not a memorable Slayer song by any means, but Tom Araya’s inspired performance and Dave Lombardo's pounding his way through the terrible production make it earn a listen every time I play Haunting the Chapel. I don’t have much to say about that song except that it’s there and it somewhat of a Slayer-by-numbers song. It had a furious change of tempo and a lengthy guitar solo. It’s not the reason why we remember the record. It’s just there.
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Haunting the Chapel is a mere blip in Slayer’s storied career, but it’s an important one that brought forward one of their most memorable songs and one of their most underrated one. It also features an important historical artifact. We can debate its importance in Slayer’s transition into becoming the iconic boogeymen they turned into, but at the end of the day it’s the Chemical Warfare record and if you don’t like Chemical Warfare, you either don’t like Slayer or you suck. Perhaps both.
