┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│■ ■│
│ .-/ .-. │
│ _.-~ / ___ | ~-._ │
│ \:/ -~| / __/| .\:/ │
│ / || (:/:| \ │
│ / /\/| |:\___\| |\ \ │
│ / /:::|.::/:::/:.|:\ \ │
│ / /:::/ \\/:::/::/:::\ \ │
│ / .::\ \-~~~~-/\/:.. \ │
│ /..:::::\ /:::::..\ │
│ /::::::::- -::::::::\ │
│ \:::::-~ ~-:::::/ │
│ \:-~ ~-:/ │
│ 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 │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│■ ■│
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘