SLAYER — Haunting the Chapel (review)

SLAYER — Haunting the Chapel album cover EP · 1984 · Thrash Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
5/5 ·
Unitron
Slayer - Haunting the Chapel

'Haunting the Chapel' is the first EP and overall second release by thrash metal legends, Slayer. There are a lot of good EP's around, but it's rare that an EP is perfect and stands on its own the same way an album does. It gives you an adrenaline boost with three (four on the reissue that I have) high energy thrashers that are among the best in Slayer's catalog in my book.

It begins with the classic 'Chemical Warfare', with fast yet menacing riffing and Tom Araya's signature aggressive vocals with the occasional maniacal laugh. Of course, you also have blistering solos that Slayer wouldn't be Slayer without. It's six minutes long, which is actually pretty long for a Slayer song, but it certainly doesn't feel that long. 'Captor of Sin' has some killer riffs that show signs of things to come in later albums. This is a little thing, but hearing the vocals under the end of the solo sounds pretty awesome. My favorite has to be the title track though, with Araya's vocals complimenting the relentless riffs. Listening to it, it sounds made for a mosh-pit, just as much as mosh-anthems like Anthrax's 'Caught in a Mosh' and Nervosa's 'Into Moshpit'. If you get the reissue, you get the song 'Aggressive Perfector', which sounds more in line with Slayer's debut then the rest of the album as it's a bit more of a speed metal-based thrash. However, it definitely isn't lacking in fantastic guitar and soloing.

The production for this EP couldn't be better. It's raw, gritty, and powerful, which is perfect for an aggressive thrash EP.

Overall, 'Haunting the Chapel' is a perfect transition between the debut and 'Hell Awaits' which would get them closer to their signature sound. It's not often when I'd call an EP essential, but I never tire of this short twenty-minutes of thrashing mastery. I'd go so far to say it's a desert island album for me. Yeah, it's that good. Hope you found this review helpful.

Feel free to comment!
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
voila_la_scorie wrote:
more than 2 years ago
I was just about to order this on CD but got Iron Maiden Final Frontier instead because it was on sale. I had this on cassette way back when and remember loving it. I'll still order the CD, though. And Hell Awaits, too!
Vim Fuego wrote:
more than 2 years ago
I only managed to finally get this a few years back. The impact of it was lessened somewhat because all of the tracks appeared elsewhere as bonuses or live, but put together, with the old, unremastered production, they rip!
UMUR wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Along with Live Undead this is Slayers best early output (before 1986). Great, great EP.

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

The Goblin Sessions Heavy Metal
THEM
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tormenta De Arena Metalcore
VORAGO
Buy this album from MMA partners
Infinite Metalcore
FUTURE GHOST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Heretic Melodic Death Metal
SUNCINDER
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Skull Burned Wearing Hell Like A Life Vest As The Night Wept Mathcore
FRONTIERER
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Future Ghost - Wolves (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Future Ghost - Nemesis Game (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Harrowed TwentyTenVideo
HARROWED
Bosh66· 3 days ago
Sunmancer - Realms of Dilemma (Official Visualizer)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 8 days ago
Sunmancer - Lower Cavalier (Official Visualizer)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 8 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed