┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │■ ■│ │ .-/ .-. │ │ _.-~ / ___ | ~-._ │ │ \:/ -~| / __/| .\:/ │ │ / || (:/:| \ │ │ / /\/| |:\___\| |\ \ │ │ / /:::|.::/:::/:.|:\ \ │ │ / /:::/ \\/:::/::/:::\ \ │ │ / .::\ \-~~~~-/\/:.. \ │ │ /..:::::\ /:::::..\ │ │ /::::::::- -::::::::\ │ │ \:::::-~ ~-:::::/ │ │ \:-~ ~-:/ │ │ METAL CLASSICS ARCHIVE │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ P R E S E N T S │ │ │ │ │ │ + Slayer - South Of Heaven + │ │ │ │ │ │╔═════════════════════╗ │ │║ Release Information ║ │ │╠═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════╗ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Rls Date..2020-03-28 Encoder......LAME 3.100 -V0 ║ │ │║ Genre.....Thrash Metal Graber.......EAC ║ │ │║ Year......1994 Khz/Bitrate..44.1 / VBR kbps ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Ripper....The_Patriacrh Songs........10 ║ │ │║ Source....CD Covers.......Yes ║ │ │║ Url..http://www.slayer.net ║ │ │║ ║ │ │╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │╔═════════════════════╗ │ │║ Release Notes ║ │ │╠═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════╗ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Artist : Slayer ║ │ │║ Album : South Of Heaven ║ │ │║ Label : American Recordings ║ │ │║ Cat.No : 74321 24849 2 ║ │ │╠════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Description : ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ So I am reviewing a Slayer album, more specifically South ║ │ │║ of Heaven. Why am I reviewing it? Because this album is one ║ │ │║ of Slayer's three definitive classics along with ║ │ │║ predecessor Reign in Blood and Seasons in the Abyss. And ║ │ │║ with Slayer disbanding soon, it's a good time to reflect on ║ │ │║ the legacy of this iconic band. We will be talking a lot ║ │ │║ about how the influence of Black Sabbath plays an important ║ │ │║ role in the album's sound. ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ In 1988, South of Heaven was released by Rick Rubin's label ║ │ │║ Def Jam and saw a huge change from its predecessor Reign in ║ │ │║ Blood. Overall, the song tempos were mid paced with some ║ │ │║ examples of this being two of the album's iconic numbers ║ │ │║ "Mandatory Suicide" and the title track. It is clear that ║ │ │║ Slayer have taken more influence from Black Sabbath this ║ │ │║ time around as they display influences from the doom metal ║ │ │║ pioneering Master of Reality album. The two songs have ║ │ │║ become live setlist staples since South of Heaven was ║ │ │║ released. However, it doesn't mean that there was no fast ║ │ │║ tempo songs on South of Heaven, as tracks like "Silent ║ │ │║ Scream" and "Ghosts of War" give the album more variety in ║ │ │║ the track listing. From my listening experience, the album ║ │ │║ can be considered a precursor to the groove metal sound ║ │ │║ that bands like Pantera, Exhorder, and Machine Head were ║ │ │║ doing in the 90s since they share the thrash metal origins ║ │ │║ and are influenced by the Sabs. ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Now let's talk about my experience listening to it. I ║ │ │║ didn't like the title track at first, but my co-worker told ║ │ │║ me the "South of Heaven" was his favorite Slayer song made ║ │ │║ me curious to re-examine my opinion of it. I then listened ║ │ │║ to the South of Heaven, and I was definitely taken for a ║ │ │║ ride. The songs I really like are the title track, "Spill ║ │ │║ the Blood", "Mandatory Suicide", and "Ghosts of War". The ║ │ │║ title track is a summary of what South of Heaven goes for ║ │ │║ musically with mid paced tempos and outstanding ║ │ │║ musicianship, with Dave Lombardo focusing less on fast ║ │ │║ drumming and more on technicality. "Spill the Blood" closes ║ │ │║ the album and is the song that displays the most Black ║ │ │║ Sabbath influence on the album with Tom Araya giving a ║ │ │║ really creepy vocal performance. "Mandatory Suicide" is ║ │ │║ another slower number and displays arguably the best lead ║ │ │║ work from Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman and has a jazzy drum ║ │ │║ performance that Brann Dailor of Mastodon could be able to ║ │ │║ pull off. "Ghosts of War" is a fast number that opens up ║ │ │║ the second half of South of Heaven and gave Lombardo a ║ │ │║ chance to channel a drum performance that is reminiscent of ║ │ │║ his Reign in Blood performance. ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Noticeably, Araya writes lyrics for 60% of the songs which ║ │ │║ means that most of the songs are about serial killers and ║ │ │║ death. As expected, King and Hanneman's excellent lead work ║ │ │║ can be attributed to the songwriting they did. The guitar ║ │ │║ solos are all among the best solos in Slayer's catalogue ║ │ │║ focusing less on speed and more on technicality. Speaking ║ │ │║ of the band's technicality displayed on most of the tracks, ║ │ │║ Slayer's cover of the Judas Priest classic "Dissident ║ │ │║ Aggressor" (originally on Sin After Sin) works really well ║ │ │║ with the proto-groove metal style of South of Heaven. ║ │ │║ Slayer would eventually cover the album's primary ║ │ │║ influence, Black Sabbath on the Black Sabbath tribute album ║ │ │║ Nativity in Black II in 2000. In my opinion, I even ║ │ │║ consider the musicianship to be on par with Master of ║ │ │║ Puppets which is a difficult thing for me to say, but in ║ │ │║ the end it paid out for the band members. ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ With Slayer's farewell tour currently intact, this is the ║ │ │║ best time to get this review up and running. It's not the ║ │ │║ best album in Slayer's catalogue but South of Heaven is ║ │ │║ definitely one of those iconic metal albums that stood the ║ │ │║ test of time. It's not the fastest Slayer album either, ║ │ │║ however it will definitely reward listeners with some of ║ │ │║ the most technical musicianship out there. ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ ║ │ │╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │╔═════════════════════╗ │ │║ Release Tracklist ║ │ │╚═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════ │ │ │ │ 1. South of Heaven 5:00 │ │ 2. Silent Scream 3:04 │ │ 3. Live Undead 3:50 │ │ 4. Behind the Crooked Cross 3:14 │ │ 5. Mandatory Suicide 4:05 │ │ 6. Ghosts of War 3:53 │ │ 7. Read Between the Lies 3:20 │ │ 8. Cleanse the Soul 3:02 │ │ 9. Dissident Aggressor (Judas Priest cover) 2:35 │ │ 10. Spill the Blood 4:50 │ │ │ │ │ │ Total Length : 00:36:53 │ │ │ │ │ │ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ╔═════════════════════╗ │ │ ║ Greetings To: ║ │ │ ╚═════════════════════╝ │ │ │ │ Too all people who contributes to make this │ │ archive of good music in a exceptional conditions │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │■ ■│ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘