This release is Slayer's 4th full-length which was not as intense as their previous album entitled 'Reign in Blood' (1986). I found 'South of Heaven' to be a little more dulled out than their phenomenal predecessor. I certainly don't like this release as much because the songwriting didn't seem as innovative. It's a decent album but in no way is better than 'Reign in Blood'. There are many reasons for this. The intensity is just not there and Araya's vocals were pretty boring. Nothing at all as good as what Araya dished out on 'Reign in Blood'. I don't really think that there are many highlights to this album in general. It's less energetic, less expansive and so uninteresting. All of the tracks are stale thrash metal.

Their music here falls under the same metal genre but there really are no highlights to the album. The guitar riffs are much slower and are longer than on 'Reign in Blood'. They were not energetic really just pretty stale. The title track is a good example of how they really slowed down and lacked that utmost speed featured on previous releases. They even have an electric clean tone introduction guitar for 'Spill the Blood'. It doesn't occur throughout the entire song, just for the introduction and towards the middle of it as well. 'Silent Scream' is probably the best track on here because of the faster tempo and originality with the riff writing.

'Behind the Crooked Cross' was so lame especially on the introductory riff. The whole song was probably the worst track on this boring album. Nothing here was fresh or intriguing. It's difficult to believe that it received positive scores to it. It's so questionable and makes me really wonder how other listeners could demonstrate this album to be a step up from 'Reign in Blood'. There were no real songs that I could pick out that actually made a difference than previous efforts. I would question where the innovation would lie. Certainly not on any of the tracks.

Thrash metal should be an intensified form of metal that dishes out spectacular riff writing and ingenuity. 'South of Heaven' doesn't contain anything special. It's thrash metal yes but a classic form of it I would say heck no. The music should be the highlights of the songs and not to put the listener to sleep. Sure the writing was their own but the time signatures were sluggish. Besides 'Silent Scream', 'Ghosts of War' was another track that was a modicum of faster riffing though still pretty uninteresting.

The production sound was flat though Rick Rubin still contributed here. Not the best mixing in terms of the guitars distorted tone. The bass guitar was barely audible. The lead guitar efforts by Hanneman and King were decent. Though Hanneman is much more technical on his leads than King is. It's good that the insert to this CD shows who's lead was who's. But the songs just didn't grab me at all. Slayer took a turn for the worst here. I could barely listen to the whole album. I just don't understand how other listeners considered this release to be a more mature Slayer. Intensity is key, and here it just doesn't hack it.

Now the lyrics shyed away from Satanism and were more interesting to read than that of previous releases. Even though the album title is 'South of Heaven', the lyrics focused more on warfare with a small bit about anti-religion and Satanic writings. The did a cover for Judas Priest's 'Dissident Aggressor' which wasn't that badly executed. The song is short but still was a decent cover. I'd have to admit that they actually did a good job with it.

It's still mystifying that Slayer's audience holds 'South of Heaven' to be one of their best releases during the 1980's. It's highly questionable. I can't bring myself to be in agreement with these fans because this album bored the hell out of me. I would ask in which way was this album good? Where are the highlights? Then of course there is no answer. If you want to own a good Slayer album, buy their predecessor 'Reign in Blood' then you'll see how much better the songwriting and intensity was. Because with 'South of Heaven', there are no real highlights here. Just another boring thrash metal release that lacks integrity and ingenuity.

Rating: 6½ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Death8699
01/25/2010 10:28