Haunting the Chapel is an extended play (EP) released by American thrash metal band Slayer in 1984 through Metal Blade and Enigma Records. Slayer's debut album Show No Mercy became Metal Blade's highest-selling, 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.
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 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 thought he would go to Hell for his part in recording the lyrics.
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." 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",
Touring
Hoglan worked as a roadie for the band after their lighting guy did not show up one night, and performed Lombardo's soundchecks.
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-defining 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. 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 album covering "Haunting the Chapel".
Track listing
Bonus track (re-issue)
The re-issue features a bonus track previously found on the Metal Massacre Vol. 3 compilation and some vinyl and cassette copies of Show No Mercy
Personnel
Slayer
- Tom Araya – bass, vocals
- Kerry King – guitars
- Jeff Hanneman – guitars
- Dave Lombardo – drums
Additional personnel
- Slayer – producer
- Brian Slagel – executive producer
- Bill Metoyer – engineer
- Eddie Schreyer – mastering
- Vince Gutierrez – cover art, cover concept
- Kerry King – cover concept
- Jeff Hanneman – cover concept
Charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ Chart performance for Haunting the Chapel
! scope="col"| Chart (2021)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
|-
|}