Last year was the inaugural one for Metal Month, which as I may have mentioned once or twice I plan to make an annual event, and it was great fun. But one thing it was definitely lacking was structure. It's not that I didn't have the time to put a special layout together, more that 2013 was to be seen as a sort of “introduction to Heavy Metal” in many ways, a chance for those who didn't know, disliked or even hated it to see what it was really all about. So I concentrated on reviewing albums from as many and as varied bands within the genre as I could find, resulting in some odd choices for me, everything from Slipknot and Possessed to Morbid Angel and Death. Of course, my own favourites were well represented too --- Maiden, Motorhead, Saxon, Tank
et al --- but generally it was a bit of a grab-bag, a sampler of the genre, if such a thing could be achieved in such a short time. And of course it couldn't.
But this time out I wanted to have nore of an overall flow to the project, so in addition to, as already mentioned, each week of the month being dedicated to the Metal from a different country, we'll be featuring a particular artiste, and doing our damndest to get their whole catalogue (studio only; I rarely do live material) reviewed, or at least looked at. And who better to start us off than these guys? If you read my review of Mastodon’s “Blood Mountain” immediately before this, you may have picked up a clue or three as to who they’re gonna be. Ladies and gentlemen, the first Featured Artist on Metal Month, I give you...
Now, I'm not going to be doing an in-depth profile of the band. I know little enough about them anyway, and really, if you want the skinny on them there's a guy called The Batlord you should talk to. But what is generally accepted about Slayer is that they are “the real deal”: they self-financed their first album, toured in a battered old Camaro and rather quickly, through the underground metal grapevine, became not only known but respected and eventually worshipped as one of the “Big 4” of Thrash Metal, along with Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax.
Their first album was “Show no mercy”, released in 1983, and I already reviewed it as part of the original Metal Month in 2013, so if you want to read what I had to say click here
http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ml#post1378575, but before they went into the studio to record their second album they hit us with an EP which certainly earns The Batlord's seal of approval (which probably means I'll hate it and vice versa) as one of their dirtiest, grittiest and indeed sh
ittiest (in the best possible usage of the term) recordings. It only has three tracks, though the version I found on Grooveshark includes the bonus track, so we have four to listen to and review.
Haunting the chapel --- Slayer --- 1984 (Metal Blade)
I'm aware this was the beginning not only of Slayer's more “Thrash-oriented” approach, but also of their deeper descent into Satanic imagery; despite its dark cover, the debut was not really overly concerned with what I would term Black Metal lyrics. Oh, there was “Evil has no boundaries, "Black Magic” and of course “The Antichrist”, but the rest of the songs tended to tread more, shall we say, mundane thematic territory? You had war, war and, er, more war. But still what you would think of as general Metal fare. “Haunting the chapel” was, it would appear, almost the genesis of the “real” Slayer, for all the world as if the guys had tested the waters with “Show no mercy” and, having “gotten away with it”, so to speak, thought
Now we'll REALLY show them what we're about!
And on this short EP, that's exactly what they did.
You know you're in for a bad, or good, depending on your tastes in Metal, time when “Chemical warfare” begins. A song that was to go on to become a staple at their gigs, and one of their most beloved by fans of the band, it hammers at you like a wild beast, the closest cousin I could attribute to it being Motorhead, but somehow it's more brutal even than Lemmy's famous trio. Perhaps it's the more snarly, angry voice of Tom Araya that adds an extra level of violence to the music, but at the same time, I must admit, I can make out the words, and I've heard worse singers certainly. Warfare is definitely a good theme for the opener though, as this is an all-out sonic assault on your ears, and believe me, you're gonna lose! Kerry King shows why he has gained such respect in the genre with a tight, if short solo, then goes back to helping Jeff Hanneman and Dave Lombardo musically kick the s
hit out of you.
There is, of course, not even the faintest semblance of finesse on this EP --- whether this continues throughout their albums or not time will tell as I listen to them --- but then you wouldn't really expect that would you? It's certainly great music to headbang to, and annoy the neighbours with. Pussies, as Batty would no doubt say. That's the longest track by far at just over six minutes, and at least on the copy I'm using, you can immediately detect the difference in the production as “Captor of sin” kicks off: it's much rawer, hollow compared to “Chemical warfare” and somehow lacks the punch of the former. That said, it's another fast, heavy track with a snarled vocal, with a definite Sabbath influence on it. During the original Metal Month I came across a lot of bands who almost made my ears bleed --- Morbid Angel, Death, Napalm Death, Possessed --- and compared to them Slayer are far and away the best in terms of musical technicality and --- dare I say it? --- melody! Gulp! Yeah, I'm surprised myself, but you know, I can listen to this. The title track is up next, and once again the production jumps in quality: much richer, deeper, more professional. It's very ---
very! --- slightly slower than the first two tracks, and has an almost boogie feel to it. Well,
I think it does.
Oh yeah, but then, as if Kerry heard me and snarled to himself “Slow you say? You fu
cker! I'll show you slow!” the tempo jumps and suddenly we're belting along at breakneck speed as the boys charge towards the ending of the song, Mr. King ripping off what can only be described as a searing solo to take us there. Wow!
And that would be it, and is it, if you don't have the extended edition. But I do. And with it comes “Aggressive perfector”, with a big, murky, brooding opening on the geetar that would bring tears to Tony Iommi's eyes. Tom's voice is the most coherent I've heard on this short album and he really does the song proud. Makes me wonder why it wasn't on the original pressings of the EP? Like I guess most Slayer songs it doesn't stay slow and broody for long, and leaps along towards the finish line as Hanneman and King blaze twin trails of fire down the middle of Lombardo's blistering fusilade. Emulaitng one of his heroes, Tom gives off a Dickinson-style scream as the song crashes to its, and the EP's, abrupt conclusion. I feel wrecked already!
TRACKLISTING
Chemical warfare
Captor of sin
Haunting the chapel
Aggressive perfector
Certainly a change from the debut album, this is faster, more powerful and a whole lot more aggressive than “Show no mercy”, and laid down the blueprint for what Slayer were to become, and indeed, the framework which would be copied by so many bands who would follow in their wake. Mind you, I'd think you would follow these guys at your peril: like Eddie on the cover of Maiden's second album, they look and sound like they'd whirl around, see you and pounce on you, rending you to shreds for daring to share the same air as them! Ah, but wouldn't it be worth it?