Album Review : Slayer - South of Heaven (1988)
Slayer’s 1986 record Reign in Blood was one of the most important moments in metal. It gave everyone permission to go faster, get heavier and address darker, more blasphemous topic. Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse and many other iconic extreme bands were inspired by such a paradigm shift. Reign in Blood was an almost impossible act to follow, but it was somehow only the beginning of Slayer's illustrious career. South of Heaven was the perfect follow-up, although it is often considered its creepy little brother.
But it's the creepy little brother who grew up to become a fucking icon in his own weird, niche field of expertise.
The opening riff of South of Heaven (the album AND the song) is one of the most iconic in Slayer's entire discography. It is the very first thing I’ve heard from the band. If Reign in Blood was all about speed and controversial lyrics, the title song provides something that was (mostly) absent from Slayer's early records, but that would prove to be foundational to their future: atmosphere. That slow, cavernous riff breathes with evil and foreboding. I love how it fills the air slowly and steadily, like toxic smoke.
But that riff is just a building block for a bulldozer of a song that became a main stay of their live sets. At almost five minutes, it’s so patient and predatory and completely different different from anything they ever recorded prior. Dave Lombardo's drumming is so crushing on it. It accentuates its heaviness and pulverizing power. South of Heaven (the song) is so moody and well-written (and well-performed by Tom Araya), it unlocked a whole new dimension of their sound. Easily a top 10 song of their discography.
The follow-up Silent Scream is more of a conventional Slayer song. It would’ve easily been the third or fourth best song on Reign in Blood. Furious drum performance from Dave Lombardo again, to a point where he overshadows everyone. This is perhaps a good thing because it’s a weird, pro-life song about unborn babies. Live Undead is an underrated cut lead by catchy-ass Jeff Hanneman riffs and a ghoulish Tom Araya. Hanneman's genius riff writing is felt on South of Heaven more than on any previous records.
Apparently no on in Slayer likes Behind the Crooked Cross. I love the spirit and the cool, casual aggression of the opening riff, but otherwise I kind of get it. It sounds like well-recorded Venom. Mandatory Suicide is the other classic from South of Heaven. Along with the title track, it's another song where Dave Lombardo's pristine drumming enhances the feeling of crushing power. The chemistry between Araya and Hanneman is completely insane on it. I'm not a fan of the chorus, but Mandatory Suicide is a certified banger.
I believe it's also the first song Tom Araya uses spoken word delivery on in the outro. It's fucking bone chilling and unforgettable.
But let's be real here. Ghosts of War is the second best song on South of Heaven. Holy fuck, it’s so nasty. It's brutal and absurdly fast and that fucking riff played 2:40 in is one of the most fist pumping, mean mugging things I've ever heard. No idea who of Hanneman or King came up with it, but it's both brutal and atmospheric at the same time. Maybe it's not Tom Araya's finest moment. He's a little melodramatic in his delivery, but who cares? This is one of the most banging instrumentals Slayer's ever written.
Read Between the Lies is overflowing with good ideas, but none of them has any room to breathe, ironically on a record where they otherwise do let good ideas breathe and take a life of their own. Cleanse the Soul could’ve easily been on more brutal records like Reign in Blood or Divine Intervention. It's super fast and riffy. It has weird proggy ideas too. It's a good song (which they never played live), but it might not have the strong identity and character the hardest bangers on South of Heaven have.
I personally love the cover of Judas Priest's oldie Dissident Aggressor. I feel like it does justice to Glenn Tipton and K.K Downing's riff writing. Slayer's always been elite at covers and this one gets the job done right. The closer Spill the Blood is another atmospheric cut that feels more of its era than other, more timeless songs on South of Heaven, but it is carried through by Tom Araya's demonic, half-chanted delivery. It's a good closer that explores new ideas (a recurring theme here), but they've done this better later.
*
I'm gonna say something controversial: I believe Reign in Blood is slightly better than South of Heaven because it has Angel of Death and Raining Blood on it, but South of Heaven has more memorable songs than Reign in Blood overall. It's the record where the band finally let Jeff Hanneman go crazy with riff writing and where they became a multitalented act capable of being brutal, fast, atmospheric, creepy, murky, sometimes all at once. South of Heaven is quite overlooked in Slayer's discography.
