Disco de Slayer: “South of Heaven [PA]”

Slayer came to a sort of crossroads when the time came to write their fifth studio release, in 1988. The band knew they couldn't top the speed of their last album, 1986's standard-bearing album "Reign In Blood," so they didn't even try. Instead, they matured and evolved a little.

The first way they did this was by improving Tom's singing style. Instead of shrieking as loud and fast as possible, Tom's vocals became more mid-tempo and tuneful. Guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman also helped to change the band's sound by slowing down the songs' tempos while simultaneously making the riffs heavier. They even added acoustic guitars into the mix (!), at the beginning of track ten, "Spill the Blood."

Another advantage of a slower album, besides the melodic vocals, is that drummer Dave Lombardo can go at his own pace. He doesn't have to play a bunch of different drums as fast as possible because he's playing "catch up" with the rest of the band. Instead, on this album, Dave creates some great, and very catchy drum fills. (Tracks three and four best demonstrate this talented drumming.)

From the beginning of the first track, the title track, you can tell Slayer have changed. Some songs, like "Silent Scream," "Ghosts of War," and "Cleanse the Soul," still race by like a flash flood, but most of "South of Heaven" is only moderately fast.

"Spill the Blood" is my personal favorite song on here, but other highlights are the thumping and blisteringly fast "Live Undead," the scorching solos of "Behind the Crooked Cross," "Mandatory Suicide," which features churning, buzzsaw riffs and a creepy, ominous, spoken-word passage from Tom, and the speedy, chugging and churning "Read Between the Lies."

So, what we have here is an album that shows Slayer's evolution and maturation. Yes, it is a bit slower, but it's equally as great as most of Slayer's other releases. Some songs are as fast as anything off of "Reign in Blood," so old-school fans will be pleased with this album, but since most of this album is slower than usual, it should also attract newcomers and those who aren't fans of Slayer's older albums.

When Slayer released "Reign In Blood" in '86, they obviously had no idea that it would be considered one of the best metal records (heavy metal, thrash metal, extreme metal... whatever) of all time by thousands upon thousands of people, even to this day. After establishing themselves as an infamous underground thrash force with satanic lyrical leanings, they were suddenly thrust forward as blasphemous innovators in style and speed. Once the metal scene's initial shock wore off a tad, everyone glanced sideways at Slayer wondering, "how in the world will they top THAT?" and "will they out-do themselves by playing even faster?" Well, Araya, King, Hanneman, and Lombardo succeeded in shocking everyone, alright... but in a much different way than expected - so much so that they (unfairly, if I might add) lost a number of fans looking for another bloody "Reign" (pun intended).

On the surface, "South Of Heaven" seemed extraordinarily unhurried - or better yet, deliberate -

compared to the album prior to this. The blinding pace of the songs, which was a large part of Slayer's appeal on their previous effort, only surpassed warp-speed in a couple of songs, namely "Silent Scream", "Ghosts Of War", and "Cleanse The Soul". Slayer's focus here was on being heavy, not necessarily fast. Basically, the band was tweaking their sound to define the sinister nature they wanted to portray. The band had reinvented itself for the recording of "Reign In Blood", and in their traditional nature of staying true to that philosophy, the boys quite naturally reinvented themselves once again for "South Of Heaven". Illustrating their mid-paced brilliance are tracks like "Mandatory Suicide", "Spill The Blood", "Dissident Aggressor" (an awesome gem of a Judas Priest cover - undeniably superior to the original, but I suppose it's sacrilegious of me to say that), and especially the title track.

Perhaps with "South Of Heaven", Slayer just decided to prove that a song could be extreme and downright blasphemous without blurring beyond the speed of light. Additionally, something to remember is that this theory wasn't easy to prove in 1988, so it's safe to say that this album was likely as much of a groundbreaker as its predecessor in 1986. All I know is that Slayer had nothing to prove to me in '88; I was convinced of their extreme metal mastery no matter how fast they played. In conclusion, "South Of Heaven" was yet another classic achievement in the history one of the best METAL bands - ever. And if that grabs you attention and gnaws at your curiosity, then you definitely should invest in this masterpiece.

Another great album by Slayer and Rick Rubin. This album will grab you by the balls, and won't let go. Kerry King's guitar work is great as always!! This is a band that keeps giving you an assault of thrash and doom metal, that'll keep you comming back for more!!

Although Reign In Blood and Seasons in the Abyss are rightfully considered Slayer's best work, this one isn't far behind in my opinion.

If you have bought this after Reign In Blood the first thing you notice in South of Heaven is the injection of melody and the slowed down pace on many of the songs. That's not to say that Slayer went soft. The more melodic tracks on this album are actually the most evil sounding such as the title track and the excellent "mandatory suicide".

Despite the imagery of the cover and some of the earlier songs, the band moves away somewhat from satanic references and there is a defnite social commentary aspect to this album; the horrors of war and the greed of organised religion are strong themes.

I recommend this as an essential Slayer purchase along with Reign in Blood, Seasons and Hell Awaits.

Let me start off by saying this album is just underrated. It is not too slow, and my personal opinion is that if slayer tried to do another reign in blood, it would turn out to be a disaster, so they came out with this. Now, on to the songs.

South of Heaven-A great opener to a great album, some great guitar playing here from metal guitar masters Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. 10/10

Silent Scream-Fast thrash, some fast, INSANE guitar playing. 10/10

Live Undead-Great song, slower, almost like South of Heaven, but a little bit faster. 10/10

Behind the Crooked Cross-Beautiful guitar playing, a great song, faster paced, but not as fast as Silent Scream. 9.5/10

Mandatory Suicide-Heavy guitar riffs, great lyrics from Tom Araya, great drumming from Dave Lombardo, and ends with a spoken part. 10/10

Ghosts of War-The best song on the album, one of my absolute favorite slayer songs, great guitar playing, awesome lyrics and psychotic double bassed drumming. You know what really sucks about the slayer albums after seasons in the abyss? No dave lombardo. 20/10

Read Between the Lies-A fast-paced, amazing song, with insane vocals. 9.5/10

Cleanse the Soul-A speedy song, a great addition to the album. Some awesome guitar playing. 10/10

Dissident Agressor-An awesome Judas Priest cover. Fast guitar playing, great lyrics. 10/10

Spill the Blood-A slower paced song, much like South of Heaven. 10/10.

I also want to say that Tom Araya is one of the best metal vocalists, Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King are two guitar geniuses, and Dave Lombardo is the best metal drummer ever.