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"Sandwiched between two monstrous albums, "South Of Heaven" is mainly a victim of the context in which it was written, but shows that Slayer is a band capable of renewing itself."
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4/5
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After "Reign In Blood", for the first time in its career Slayer was faced with a real writing problem. How could they possibly surpass such an album? Well aware that repeating the same thing would achieve nothing, the band decided, in consultation with Rick Rubin, to slow down the tempo - a risky move for the Californians, who had only had success thanks to the tetanizing aggression of their first three releases.
The album's reception was frosty, to say the least, and it's not unusual to hear the band themselves admit that this was not their best work, particularly Kerry King, who was going through a difficult period as a songwriter. Freshly married and living in Arizona, he had no head for writing, so Jeff took over. King did, however, add his own touch here and there, most notably on 'Mandatory Suicide', a hit destined to become a staple of Slayer's live setlist.
Deprived of the contribution of his alter ego, Hanneman struggles a little, and this is perhaps one of the reasons why "South Of Heaven" is an underrated and successful record ('Silent Scream' and its diabolical pulse is brilliant proof of this), but rather unbalanced. Tracks such as 'Behind The Crooked Cross' and 'Spill The Blood' stand out for their lack of saturated guitars and strange clean vocals, and "Dissident Aggressor" may be an excellent track, but it's nothing more than a Judas Priest cover.
Despite all these remonstrances, it has to be said that Slayer is still an outstanding band. 'Silent Scream', 'Ghosts Of War' (an avowed sequel to 'Chemical Warfare') and 'Read Between The Lies' are excellent, brutal, nervous tracks that finally let the Beast loose. Silly, dissonant soli, frenetic riffs, hammering snare drums - the band's trademarks are there for all to hear. What's even more interesting is to note that the band's work on melodies can also be found in these "speed" tracks, as in the solo on "Ghosts Of War", for example. A recipe that Slayer will refine on the following album, but that's another story...
Tom Araya once described "South Of Heaven" as a belated success, shunned at first, but which eventually found its way into the hearts of fans. In a difficult transitional role, especially at such an early stage in a band's career, it does rather well and contains some hits not to be ignored, showing that Slayer are capable of renewing themselves, which is a difficult thing to do in a codified genre like thrash. The album will get a Golden Disc in 1992, and its impact on the metal world will be on a par with that of its 1986 big brother. - Official website
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TRACK LISTING:
01. South Of Heaven - 04:56
02. Silent Scream - 03:06
03. Live Undead - 03:49
04. Behind The Crooked Cross - 03:14
05. Mandatory Suicide - 04:04
06. Ghosts Of War - 03:52
07. Read Between The Lies - 03:19
08. Cleanse The Soul - 03:01
09. Dissident Aggressor - 02:34
10. Spill The Blood - 04:47
LINEUP:
Dave Lombardo: Batterie
Jeff Hanneman: Guitares
Kerry King: Guitares
Tom Araya: Chant / Basse
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(0) MIND(S) FROM OUR READERS
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Top of the page
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(0) COMMENT(S)
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READERS
4.5/5 (4 view(s))
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STAFF:
4.2/5 (5 view(s))
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IN RELATION WITH SLAYER
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OTHER REVIEWS
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OTHER(S) REVIEWS ABOUT SLAYER
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