South of Heaven

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South of Heaven
Studio album by
Slayer
ReleasedJuly 5, 1988
RecordedDecember 1987 – February 1988 at Hit City West in Los Angeles and at Chung King in New York City
GenreThrash metal
Length36:54
LanguageEnglish
LabelDef Jam
ProducerSlayer, Rick Rubin
Slayer chronology
Reign in Blood
(1986) 		South of Heaven
(1988) 		Seasons in the Abyss
(1990)

South of Heaven is the fourth studio album by American thrash metal band, Slayer. South of Heaven was released on July 5, 1988. The album was released through Def Jam. It is the second collaboration with record producer Rick Rubin.

The album is their second to enter the Billboard 200 and was their last album that was released under Def Jam Recordings. Guitarist Jeff Hanneman has said that the album was the only album that the band members had discussed before writing the music. They knew that they "couldn't top Reign in Blood", and that whatever they recorded would be "compared to that album", he believed they "had to slow down", something the band had never done on albums before, or since.[1]

Guitarist Kerry King mentioned the need to "keep people guessing" as another reason for the musical shift.[2] According to Slayer's official biography: "In order to contrast the aggressive assault put forth on Reign in Blood, Slayer consciously slowed down the tempo of the album as a whole". "They also added elements like undistorted guitars and toned-down vocal styles not heard on previous albums."[3]

Songs[change | change source]

No. TitleLyricsMusic Length
1. "South of Heaven"  Tom ArayaJeff Hanneman 4:58
2. "Silent Scream"  ArayaHanneman, Kerry King 3:07
3. "Live Undead"  King, ArayaHanneman 3:50
4. "Behind the Crooked Cross"  HannemanHanneman 3:15
5. "Mandatory Suicide"  ArayaHanneman, King 4:05
6. "Ghosts of War"  KingHanneman, King 3:53
7. "Read Between the Lies"  King, ArayaHanneman 3:20
8. "Cleanse the Soul"  King, ArayaHanneman 3:02
9. "Dissident Aggressor" (Judas Priest cover)Rob HalfordK.K. Downing, Glenn Tipton 2:35
10. "Spill the Blood"  HannemanHanneman 4:48

References[change | change source]

  1. ↑ "An exclusive oral history of Slayer". Decibel Magazine. Archived from the original on 2006-08-13. Retrieved 2014-07-07.
  2. ↑ "Slayer's Kerry King: The Art Of Writing Songs That Nobody Else Can Write". Ultimate-Guitar.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-10. Retrieved 2014-07-07.
  3. ↑ "About". Slayer. Archived from the original on 2007-08-10. Retrieved 2014-07-07.



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