Live Undead / Haunting the Chapel

In 1984, Slayer left Los Angeles on their first cross-country tour. The band made hardly any money from the shows. They often stayed at fans’ houses, and what they did earn went toward the purchase of food and beer. It was a crucial time for Slayer. They were young and hungry and they had a mission — to spread word of their seminal brand of thrash. Live Undead is the record of that tour. Recorded live in a New York City Studio in front of 50 metal maniacs personally invited by the band, the first seven songs on this collection capture the band’s awe-inspiring onslaught. In the few months since recording Show No Mercy, Slayer had already refined its attack. The band’s barbaric blitz is punctuated by the guitar of Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, whose leads on “Evil Has No Boundaries” and “Show No Mercy” are even more unhinged than the already-impressive studio versions. This package is filled out by the four-song Haunting the Chapel EP, which was released during the tour and shows the band finding its way as an infernal, grinding machine, especially on the classic “Chemical Warfare.”