July 5, 1988 - South Of Heaven

Three months have passed since my last release and nearly two years after "Reign In Blood" Slayer released their fourth album "South Of Heaven" on July 5, 1988. After their extremely fast last album, Slayer thought that it would be impossible to match that pace and deliberately chose to slow things down on this album. They are still working with producer Rick Rubin and while the songs are still plenty heavy, they are (for the most part) at a much slower pace than usual for Slayer. What exactly does a toned down Slayer sound like? Let's find out!

The album begins with the title track "South Of Heaven" and we hear a slow but epic guitar riff to start us off. After a few bars of just the one guitar, the rest of the band joins in and makes the slow epic riff sound much heavier. Dave Lombardo plays a few nice drum fills before Tom Araya finally comes in to sing the first verse. He sounds more like he's talking than singing, but he ends the verse by yelling a nice "before you see the light, you must DIE!". As advertised, this is all at a way slower pace than anything off "Reign In Blood", but it still sounds nice and heavy. They speed things up a little bit for the next verse as Araya returns to his more standard singing voice and after this verse they go back to the original riff and slow things right down again. The pace picks up once again for the next verse and then we finally reach the chorus as Araya sings the name of the song lots overtop of another nice slow guitar riff. The chorus is followed by our first guitar solo and I'm not sure if it's Kerry King or Jeff Hanneman but whoever it is plays a solid slow solo. He very briefly shreds things in the middle of the solo but most of it is slower but still fits the mood really nicely. They go right into another verse and chorus and then it's the other guitarist's turn to solo. I like this one better as it's a bit fast-paced and has several different cool parts to it. The solo ends and we hear some droning guitar feedback that goes on for a good 20 seconds or so. It seems a little overdone, but it continues right into the next song and nicely sets up the frantic beginning of "Silent Scream". This is one of the few songs on this album played at a regular Slayer pace as it opens with a super fast thrash-y guitar riff. Lombardo comes tearing in with some great super fast drumming and Araya's bass also fits the thrash style as everyone seems to have forgotten they were slowing things down on this one. Araya begins a verse overtop this wicked main riff and his voice seems to be lacking some of the bite and energy from albums past. He still sounds decent, but I'm not a fan of toned down Tom as I'd much prefer him yelling at me and doing primal screams. This new vocal style just doesn't seem to go as well with the awesome metal music, in my opinion. The verse leads right into a similarly fast chorus and it's a short one as it's almost right back to another verse. After this verse and another chorus it's time for a classic Slayer double solo. One guitarist goes first and delivers a pretty sweet solo and as King and Hanneman do so well they switch lead and rhythm parts seamlessly (and the "rhythm guitar" is still incredibly fast!). Whoever goes second does an even better job as this solo is absolutely amazing! Up and down and all around the guitar he goes, hitting tons of notes all along he way; an incredible guitar solo! The main riff takes over again with no time to rest as they play through a final verse and chorus. They certainly can still play fast if they want to! Track 3 is called "Live Undead" and it begins with a nice slow guitar riff before they move into a main riff driven by some Goldilocks guitar (not a slow guitar riff, but also not a fast one, somewhere right in the middle). Araya sings a couple short toned down verses and then a solo comes out of nowhere! It's a short but pretty sweet guitar solo and the fast-paced rhythm part continues while we hear some more slow guitar in the chorus. Araya ends the chorus with the album's first primal scream and he proves that he can still hit some really high notes! Lombardo plays some awesome drums in a cool bridge that brings us to another solo and whoever it is fires off like a rocket, shredding his guitar in a short solo! Araya sings one line of lyrics, and then it's the other's guitarist's turn to fire off and shred for a few quick bars! This pattern continues and we hear a whopping 5 solos in short order! Slayer just don't understand how to slow down for too long, but I'm not complaining as they play some wicked metal music! Araya's final line is the name of the song and then Lombardo unleashes a wicked drum fill before they nicely end another solid song. Up next is "Behind The Crooked Cross" and one guitarist, Araya and Lombardo form a simple thrash rhythm section while the other guitarist plays a cool low guitar riff that mixes perfectly. Araya sings a decent but still toned down verse and it leads right into the chorus where the guitars play basically the same stuff but Lombardo steps it up with some more great drumming. After another verse and chorus it's double solo time and both King and Hanneman play some cool guitar as usual. Everything falls away except one guitar briefly and it nicely bridges the gap before everyone comes roaring back in for another double solo! King and Hanneman both make their earlier solos seem easy as they both of the following solos are tremendous and filled with face-melting shredding! They bring it back to the main riff and finish off this short song with a final verse and chorus. Side one wraps up with "Mandatory Suicide" as Araya and Lombardo play a nice slow rhythm section and one guitarist plays a slow, low riff while the other plays an epic higher riff. This riff could certainly be considered "toned down" compared to the blistering speed of their last album, but the music remains heavy even when slow, while Araya's toned down vocals sound significantly less metal than usual. The verse is still alright thanks to some solid music and the chorus is oddly just Araya softly repeating "suicide" a few times. After another verse and "chorus" (if you wanna call it that) one guitarist goes off for a solo. We hear some pretty fast shredding in this solo and it sounds great overtop this slow and heavy backing riff. After the solo it's another verse and chorus before Lombardo plays a nice drum fill that sets the stage for the ending riff. One guitarist continues the slow main riff while the other plays some cool droning and trippy guitar and Araya goes off on a long talking speech overtop all of this. It's a bit of a strange way to end things, but it certainly sounds very dark and depressing and pretty metal.

Side two begins with "Ghosts Of War" and it sounds like it could've been off their last album as it erupts immediately into blazing fast main riff. Both King and Hanneman are playing some great guitar and after a slightly muted opening bit everything gets much louder once the first verse starts. Araya sings nicely overtop as they race through this cool verse and the guitar somehow gets even faster in the chorus as both guitarists are going so flippin' fast! Lombardo ends the chorus with a sweet drum fill and they roll right into another lightning-fast verse and chorus before it's classic double solo time. Words don't do proper justice as I write once again that King and Hanneman both play incredible guitar solos and as always they beautifully cover for each other. It never gets old for me, since both guys are so damn talented! After the second solo finishes the other guitarist starts up a new riff and it's a pretty great fast-paced lead guitar that drives this new bridge riff. The guitar changes to a lower, more thrash-y riff and Araya sings a brief new verse that sounds pretty epic. Lombardo delivers another spectacular drum fill, and then they repeat the cool bridge and end the song with a final brief verse. Up next is "Read Between The Lies" and it opens with another pretty damn fast guitar riff. The music continues to be not very toned down at all, but Araya begins a verse that sounds pretty laid back compared to his usual yelling. Araya does one nice yell as they switch into the chorus, but it appears to be the only line of the chorus as the rest is just some nice slowed down guitars. They speed up again for the next verse and this time they play a much longer chorus with a lot more lyrics. After this chorus it's solo time, but this solo isn't the usual shredding one. It's mostly just crazy guitar feedback that's very high-pitched and very distorted. I don't like it as much as a shredding solo, but it still sounds very metal and the rhythm section is still nice and fast. From the solo they go back to the main riff and after a final verse they end it as it began with the same cool opening riff. Track 8 is "Cleanse The Soul" and the first few seconds are rather slow, but they quickly turn things up to full and move into another furious main riff. It becomes commonplace once you listen to so much Slayer, but every crazy fast main riff has all four members playing some insanely fast stuff and it's amazing that they can come up with so many different and aggressively awesome parts! There's no toning things down here as Araya leads a wicked fast verse and there's no chorus as we go right from the main riff into an early solo. It's a pretty sweet solo as you'd expect and I love the relentlessness as they go back into the speedy main riff. After another verse it's the other guitarist's turn to solo and he also does a fine job but not quite as good as the first one I'd say. It does nicely break down into a cool new bridge riff and after some cool melodic guitars briefly, it's time for another verse, and then of course another solo! This final solo is a short one, but it takes us right to the end of the song and sounds pretty awesome while doing so. The next song "Dissident Aggressor" is a Judas Priest cover and it's certainly at a slower pace than usual for Slayer. They do a nice job with a slow but still plenty heavy main riff and Araya sings in a bit of a different voice but still sounds solid. This is a different kind of metal for Slayer, but they're showing that they can do slower stuff if they want to. The chorus has some nice lead guitar and some better yelling from Araya and then it's right back for another verse. After another chorus it's slow solo time! The solo is definitely way slower than they're used to but they still make it sound nice and epic. They return nicely to the main riff and play a final verse and chorus to close out this short cover. The album wraps up with "Spill The Blood" and it begins with a very light but cool guitar riff. Things are starting pretty slowly and quietly but finally the rest of the band comes in and while things remain slow, they are much louder and much heavier. The music sounds great but once again Araya sings in a voice that just sounds uninterested, like he's being forced to do it almost. It's tolerable but it's not his best work and it continues into the chorus. They slowly play another verse and chorus and then we finally get out first guitar solo. It doesn't disappoint as the super fast shredding sounds great over the slow rhythm part. After the solo things get quiet and they return to the light opening riff and once again make their way back to the main riff. They play a final verse, a final chorus, a final cool guitar solo, a final epic Lombardo drum fill and then wnd tbings very nicely with one final guitar bit. Well done!

That is the end of "South Of Heaven" and I thought it was still a very good album. The music for the most part was still very fast and classic Slayer, which I love, and it seems it was mostly the vocals that were taken down a notch to not sound so angry. I want Tom Araya to be angry! Despite this it was still a great album and it's a testament to how great the rest of Slayer's albums are that I believe this newest one is their least awesome yet. For this to be 4th out of four shows how strong Slayer are because this was still a great album for sure. Hopefully after intentionally slowing down Slayer's next album will be even better!