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                          Haunting the Chapel  1984   Enigma


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                                            Slayer : Haunting the Chapel

Slayer were definitely one of the more extreme Thrash acts to come out of the 80s. Tom Araya has never been a master vocalist, but his aggressive range puts him in a different category from the many melodic Thrash bands that later surfaced. The controversial lyrics of death and war put them in a possible position as one of the innovators of the Death Metal genre. On this short EP, Slayer unleashes a sample of tracks that would later become crowd favorites. The production suffers quite a bit, as do many early 80s albums, coming off more like a muddled garage type mix. The topics deal with everything from death, to religion, to war.
Hanneman and King were soon to become a highly-acclaimed twin guitar attack, Dave Lombardo tears things up behind drums, Tom Araya's bass was actually audible here and his vocals don't come as bland as today's Slayer.
The opener "Chemical Warfare" has a haunting rhythm section with the controversial lyrics Slayer were known for. "Captor of Sin" is a speed frenzy, with Hanneman and King's trademark high-pitched guitars chugging right through. "Haunting the Chapel" is the title track and one of the better overall songs; very raw with instruments literally all over the place. Tom continues to sing about dark themes such as Black Magic and Satan. Final track "Aggressive Perfector" comes through as a full-throttle punch to the face!. Fast, precise, and worthy of a banging of the head.
This is early 80s unrestrained Slayer,with instruments flying at full speed and fury. Slayer were quite an evil band for their day! This, along with the next few slew of great albums, should give you a good run for your money. 'Only a sample of what is to come. Haunting the Chapel (EP) is a part of the 1993 re-issued version of Show No Mercy, so pick it up if you can find it! Slayer only get better from here on out and so does their production values.

                                                           Tracks
1. Chemical Warfare                                             3. Hauning the Chapel
2. Captor of Sin
                                                   4. Aggressive Perfector

Reviewed by Sam