 | Tracklist:
01.South Of Heaven
02.Silent Scream
03.Live Undead
04.Behind The Crooked Cross
05.Mandatory Suicide
06.Ghosts Of War
07.Read Between The Lies
08.Cleanse The Soul
09.Dissident Aggressor
10.Spill The Blood
| Ranking: #21 for 1988 | |
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On 51 Lists
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4 of 7 thought this review was well written
It's 1988, two years after the greatest year in thrash metal. Two years before South of Heaven, there was the masterpiece Reign In Blood, Slayer's fastest, most violent, and overall best album. This is Slayer's follow-up to Reign In Blood.
Line Up (as usual);
Tom Araya - Fast bassist with a wide range of vocals. From low growling to high-pitched ear-splitting screams. His bass is mostly rhythm, but it has it's moments.
Kerry King - Amazing guitarist who shares lead and rhythm duties with Hanneman.
Jeff Hanneman - Amazing guitarist who shares lead and rhythm duties with King.
Dave Lombardo - Well talented percussionist who can do killer fills and give hell to his bass drum.
01.South Of Heaven (4:58) - The first thing you hear from this album is a haunting guitar riff "Dead Skin Mask"-esque. Suddenly, the other instruments take you by surprise and the other guitar takes the haunting lead riff. Araya comes in with his improved, smoother voice. It just sounds less coarse. The song has a pretty slow tempo for a Slayer song, but it changes up a bit in a few parts. After a few verses and choruses, King takes an amazing guitar solo. There's another, but shorter, solo that Hanneman does. 4/5
02.Silent Scream (3:06) - From the last note of "South of Heaven", the blasting instruments rush in at a pretty fast tempo. Araya leads the verses with his graphic lyircs. Dave does some nice fills in the chorus section. The solo is an enormous guitar dual. Very amazing soloage. 4.5/5
03.Live Undead (3:50) - The opening guitar riff sounds just killer. It's at a slower speed than the other songs. Araya's bass is heard very promanantly. The section after the verse is a little mini solo that they fit in. Dave does killer fills too. They fit in another mini solo done by the other guitar. After a while, Araya lets out his well-known ear-splitting scream. The tempo really speeds up in the raging guitar battle. Araya manages to fit vocal parts between the attacking guitars. 5/5
04.Behind The Crooked Cross (3:14) - Another moderate speed song. Which is slow in Slayer's dictionary. The choruses and verses are pretty strong, mostly powered by Araya's voice and the pounding drums. The silence catches you off guard, and they shortly after blast you with the double-time guitar battle. 5/5
05.Mandatory Suicide (3:59) - The bass is really driving. Simple, yet very promanant. It's another one of Slayer's more moderate songs. Araya lets out a great scream under the high-pitched guitars after the first verse. The guitar solo is only one guitar done by King. He really shreds like hell up the neck. Dave does a great fill, and then pumps the double bass into a talking part. It's poetic. And VERY graphic about war. Araya lets out one scream like he's dying, and the haunting guitar ends the song off. 5/5
06.Ghosts Of War (3:53) - A hauntingly ghastly and high-pitched guitar opens this up. The whole riff sounds distant. But the pumping verse is at regular volume. Araya's lyrics are as usual very graphic about war. The song is very fast too. Another massive shredfest solo by both guitars is featured here. It slows down after the dual into another riff followed by one smaller guitar solo. 5/5
07.Read Between The Lies (3:20) - It starts moderately, and has a killer guitar fill. Which becomes the guitarline in the verses. Araya's bass is heard clearly too. The verses have lyrics harping on Chritianity directly. The solo is very haunting and slow, which Hanneman does. 4/5
08.Cleanse The Soul (3:02) - After the intro, Dave's fill dicks off a fast tempo change. The verse has some half-talked backing vocal to addition Araya. The solo is done by only one guitar. Araya fits in a verse to do before the next solo, done by the other guitar. Both solo's are kickass and haunting. 4/5
09.Dissident Aggressor (2:35) - Yes, they covered a Judas Preist song. It's just like the old version, 'cept Slayer gave it their own style. I think that they did a great job. 5/5
10.Spill The Blood (4:49) - This is Slayer's closest song to a ballad. It sounds alot like "Seasons in the Abyss". It starts with a slow, clean guitar intro. It sounds kind-of scary.. Dave does some symbols to back it, and Araya's bass follows it too. There is some kind of horn too.. Dave does a fill, and the whole band kicks it up. Same tempo. The next section has a killer guitarline. Araya's bass is very promanant. The verses have a very close lyrical theme to Black Sabbath's "N.I.B.". Hanneman takes the kickass solo. 5/5
Goodies
- Araya's vocals imrpoved for the better
- The bass is heard WAAAY better
- There is a solo in almost every song
- Araya has a good vocal range
- The instrumental talent is amazing
- All of the solos are amazing
- It's very heavy
- The speed of some songs will please Slayer fans
- Slayer experimented with tempos
- The lyrics are great, descriptive, and bloody violent
- The production is great
Baddies
- Some songs may be too slow after listening to Reign in Blood
- They could have improved the bass level a little bit
- There could have been a little more variety
- Some of the songs follow similar patterns
- They could have been more creative
Well, there you have it. Slayer did an amazing job following up to 1986's Reign in Blood. This is one of my favorite albums from Slayer. If you're getting into Slayer and thrash metal, buy it. If you're a fan of Slayer, buy it. This was an amazing album. 4.5/5
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this cd and reign in blood give me an eargasm
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nice review
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
South of heaven shows a slightly slower yet more sinister side of slayer. Great album, Great review.
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this is probably my favorite slayer cd ever
| | | Album Rating: 4
Good album, but I don't think it deserved 5 stars. 4 stars seems to be a more accurate rating.
Good review though. :thumb:This Message Edited On 06.27.05
Digging: Circle Takes The Square - As The Roots Undo | | |
Ah, 4.5 sounds better then.
Thanks for all of the feedback  This Message Edited On 06.27.05
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
A good review, although I will disagree with the high rating. This is not one of Slayer's best efforts. It is somewhat plodding, and if I want to hear some mid-tempo metal, Slayer is not where I want to hear it. I would rate Reign in Blood, Seasons in the Abyss, Divine Intervention and God Hates Us All ahead of South of Heaven. The sound quality is terrible and makes it very hard to listen to. Slayer is the greatest metal band ever and this is one of their worst efforts.
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Well, to get you into the album, check out South of Heaven and Spill the Blood. As for the heavier side, Silent Scream and Ghosts of War.
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Bodoms version of silent scream is fucking amazing
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
i like this cd better than reign in blood actually, and is it just me, or am i the only slayer fan that doesnt think mandatory suicide is all that great?
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
^^^^^^^^Oh, its good but yea maybe abit overated as a song.
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Slayer is anoverrated band, and imo, shitty guitar work. The solos are fast and thats it. they dont have any meaning and have the time all it is a tremolo-solo on 2 frets. They are an extremely influential band, but overall i dont think their quality of music is any good and i definitely feel they're overrated
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I could never get into Slayer because of the lyrics. It just seemed so pointless for them to be so violent. I agree with 94 that they were extremely influential but like a lot of the thrash bands, overrated.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
Musically slayer sucks. But they writte some good headbanging music thats fast, agressive and heavy. Thats all there is to it. Its fun to listen to but isnt necessarily intersting musically.
| | | Album Rating: 4
not bad, alot of the songs sound alike though
some cool guitar stuffThis Message Edited On 10.03.05
| | | Album Rating: 4
this cd is freakign awsome, my favorite song is probally south of heaven
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Great album.
Not as good as the first 3 though.
Digging: Dirty Three - Horse Stories
| | | Album Rating: 5 | Sound Off
This is my favorite cd by slayer. It might not be their fastest, but i really think its their best. jeff and king are on top of their game here, and it really shows. however, i would've given south of heaven a 5/5 and behind the crooked cross a 4/5. this is just a great cd overall tho. This Message Edited On 03.04.06
Digging: blink-182 - The Mark, Tom, And Travis Show | | | Album Rating: 5
I personally like this album more than Reign In Blood, although that one is also amazing. South Of Heaven is my all-time favorite song. No matter how many times i listen to that song it never gets old. My other favorites on this CD are Behind The Crooked Cross and Spill The Blood.
| | | Album Rating: 3
The lyrics to the song "South of Heaven" seem way more thought out, and *gasp* actually say something. Hmm... perhaps Tom should take over lyrical duties???
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