𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…
August 4, 1984 — Slayer released Haunting the Chapel, the bands first EP via Metal Blade / Enigma Records. (Apple Music or Spotify)
Overview:
Slayer's debut album Show No Mercy became Metal Blade's highest-selling album, leading to producer Brian Slagel wanting to release an EP. Recorded in Hollywood, the recording process proved difficult when recording drums in a studio without carpet, although it resulted in drummer Dave Lombardo meeting Gene Hoglan who was to become an influence in his drumming style and speed.
It was during the recording of this session that Lombardo first had the double bass added to his kit. Hoglan, working for Slayer at the time, sat at the kit and played a double bass for the first time. Lombardo was impressed and although Hoglan never gave him lessons, he did give him tips regarding the use of the double kick drum.
Although originally featuring three songs, the record evidences a marked evolution from the style of their previous album, Show No Mercy, and is considered the first demonstration of the band's "𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚌" style displayed on later albums and is often described as a "𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚎". The songs Captor of Sin and Chemical Warfare were regularly featured on the band's live set list. Chemical Warfare appears in Guitar Hero Warriors of Rock.
Background:
Slayer's previous album, Show No Mercy, had sold over 40,000 copies worldwide and the band were performing the songs Chemical Warfare and Captor of Sin live, which made producer Brian Slagel want to release an EP.
The album was recorded in Hollywood with sound engineer Bill Metoyer, in a studio with no carpet which was a problem while recording the drums. Slagel was acting as executive producer. Metoyer is Christian and the lyrics from Show No Mercy did not bother him. However, the first words Araya sang when recording Haunting the Chapel were "𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚜, 𝚜𝚢𝚖𝚋𝚘𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚜, 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙲𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚗", and other anti-religious lyrics; Metoyer thought he would go to Hell for his part in recording the lyrics. These lyrical themes were inspired by the band Venom, who influenced Kerry King and was also into the Satanic image.
(𝚂𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙴𝚡𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚜, 𝚌𝚒𝚛𝚌𝚊 𝟷𝟿𝟾𝟺)
Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo set his drum kit on the concrete and the kit went "𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎" while playing. Lombardo asked Gene Hoglan to hold his kit together, while recording Chemical Warfare, with Hoglan thinking, "𝙸 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜, 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑."
(𝚂𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙼𝚎𝚛𝚌𝚢𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝙵𝚊𝚝𝚎, 𝚌𝚒𝚛𝚌𝚊 𝟷𝟿𝟾𝟺)
Hoglan was coaching Lombardo how to use double-bass drums to improve his drumming ability and speed; Lombardo asserts Hoglan was "𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚘𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚎-𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗", although it was Hoglan's first time playing the double bass. Eddy Schreyer provided audio mastering and digital remastering, with the cover art design created by Vince Gutierrez. Haunting the Chapel was darker and more Thrash-oriented than Show No Mercy, and as previously noted, laid the groundwork for the future direction in the band's sound.
(𝚂𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙼𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚑, 𝚌𝚒𝚛𝚌𝚊 𝟷𝟿𝟾𝟺)
Touring:
Slayer embarked on the Haunting the West Coast tour to promote Haunting the Chapel. Hoglan worked as a roadie for the band after their lighting guy did not show up one night, and performed Lombardo's soundchecks.
(𝚂𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚛 - 𝙷𝚊𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚆𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝙲𝚘𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚃𝚘𝚞𝚛, 𝚌𝚒𝚛𝚌𝚊 𝟷𝟿𝟾𝟺)
Slayer and Hoglan would play Dark Angel songs during soundchecks, which is how Hoglan eventually joined Dark Angel.
Hoglan approached Dark Angel guitarist Jim Durkin: "𝙷𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚜𝚖𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍. 𝙷𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚠𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚕. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚎𝚜, '𝙱𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢, 𝙸‘𝚖 𝚊 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚛𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚞𝚢 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝙳𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝙰𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚕 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚠.'"
The story goes that Hoglan was fired as he allegedly thought a roadie only did lighting, while vocalist Tom Araya's brother Johnny Araya would do all roadie duties, such as moving equipment, working with sound and lights, and setting up the stage.
The band performed a show on June 29, 1984 in Seattle, WA at Mountaineers in front of a crowd of 1500, the largest show they performed at the time, with support from Metal Church and Wild Dogs.
In Texas, they played with a band also called Slayer in San Antonio. However, it was the San Antonio Slayer's goodbye show.
Critical Reception:
Although the EP did not enter any charts, Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic awarded the EP three out of five stars. Rivadavia said Haunting the Chapel was a "𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚎" that "𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚍, 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚜𝚊𝚠 𝚂𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚛‘𝚜 𝚁𝚘𝚌𝚔-𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚜 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚗-𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛, 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎-𝚙𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚝𝚢𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚃𝚑𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚑 𝙼𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕’𝚜 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍." The tracks Chemical Warfare and Captor of Sin are played at Slayer's live shows regularly.
Vocalist Karl Willetts of the Death Metal band Bolt Thrower asserts the record was an inspiration for the band:
"𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚂𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚛‘𝚜 𝙷𝚊𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚕 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚢𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚛 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚆𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙿𝚞𝚗𝚔𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙷𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚢 𝙼𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚞𝚙𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚠𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚅𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚖, 𝚂𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙼𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚊. 𝚂𝚘 𝚠𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝙼𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚐𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝙿𝚞𝚗𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛."
The late Chuck Schuldiner of the band Death said the record was "𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎" asserting, "𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚐𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚙𝚞𝚜𝚑."
The Black Metal band Perverseraph covered Chemical Warfare on a tribute CD to Slayer titled Gateway to Hell, Vol. 2: A Tribute to Slayer.
Thrash Metal band Equinox also made an appearance on the same album covering Haunting the Chapel.
Melodic Death Metal band At The Gates released Captor of Sin on a 2002 re-issue of their 1995 album Slaughter of the Soul.
Notice: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells
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