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Rating: In 1988, "South of Heaven" was released, the fourth effort by the legendary Slayer, one of the greatest extreme Thrash-Metal bands from California.
It differentiates itself from the first three masterpieces (Show No Mercy, Hell Awaits, and Reign in Blood) with songs of noticeably lower speed and mainly focused on melody, a choice made by the four to not create the usual songs, but to generate new musical perspectives, still similar to the masterpiece released two years prior, partially going against the desires of many fans, but proving their ability to play great mid-tempos contrary to the super-fast riffs of their previous works.
South of Heaven is played by the most famous line-up:
The guitar duo Jeff Hanneman-Kerry King creates imposing riffs, Tom Araya on bass and vocals becomes very active in song creation, showcasing his great vocal qualities which, even with the disappearance of falsetto and with increasingly reduced use of high pitches, are undoubtedly good, and finally, that megagalactic alien named Dave Lombardo, for whom it is now pointless to speak.
The album opens with the title track (which starts with one of the riffs considered among the most beautiful ever written by Slayer), a song among their best ever. Following that, we have "Silent Scream", a song that leaves you breathless where Dave shows off his drumming skills and "Live Undead", very underrated by fans but, in my opinion, a piece of undeniable value. Next, we find "Behind the Crooked Cross", one of the best on the album, leading to "Mandatory Suicide", which is played live at every concert. The sixth song is "Ghosts of War", where the Californian combo's tendency to create fast songs is still evident. It starts with low volumes and progresses into a part of sonic violence worthy of the group's name.
Next are the two most anonymous songs: "Read Between the Lies" and "Cleanse the Soul", not very beautiful but by no means dispensable. The next song is "Dissident Aggressor", a cover of the legendary Judas Priest. Finally, we find the relentless "Spill the Blood", with an arpeggio that would not be out of place as the soundtrack of a thriller movie.
It is worth noting, however, the significant improvement in the lyrics, as the central themes are no longer trivialities such as Satanism, guts everywhere, or the most outlandish horror. Nazism, however, still appears in the lyrics of "Behind the Crooked Cross", where Slayer shows they are not those four Nazis they were accused of being by a group of ignorant people (at least regarding Thomas Araya and Dave Lombardo).
Probably, this album can give a sense of incompleteness, but despite that, it should definitely be considered, even if not the greatest, a masterpiece of the Californian ensemble and metal in general.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 South of Heaven (04:58)
An unforeseen future nestled somewhere in time
Unsuspecting victims no warnings, no signs
Judgment day the second coming arrives
Before you see the light you must die
Forgotten children, Conform a new faith
Avidity and lust controlled by hate
(The) Never ending search for your shattered sanity
Souls of Damnation in their own reality
Chaos rampant
An age of distrust
Confrontations
Impulsive habitat
Bastard sons beget your cunting daughters
Promiscuous mothers with your incestuous fathers
Engreat souls condemned for (all) eternity
Sustained by immoral observance a domineering deity
Chaos rampant
An age of distrust
Confrontations
Impulsive sabbath
On and on, South of heaven
The root of all evil is the heart of a black soul
A force that has lived all eternity
A never ending search for a truth never told.
The loss of all hope and your dignity
Chaos rampant
An age of distrust
Confrontations
Impulsive habitat
On and on, South of heaven
02 Silent Scream (03:06)
Nightmare, The persecution
A child's dream of death
Torment, Ill forgotten
A soul that will never rest
Guidance, It means nothing
In a world of brutal time
Electric, Circus, Wild
Deep in the infants mind
Silent Scream
Bury the unwanted child
Beaten and torn
Sacrifice the unborn
Shattered, Adolescent (another child)
Bearer of no name
Restrained, Insane games
Suffer the children condemned
Scattered, Remnants of life
Murder a time to die
Pain, Sufferaged toyed
Life's little fragments destroyed
Silent Scream
Crucify the bastard son
Beaten and torn
Sanctify lives of scorn
Life preordained
Humanity maintained
Extraction termination
Pain's agonizing stain
Embryonic death
Embedded in your brain
Suffocation, Strangulation
Death is fucking you insane
Nightmare, The persecution
A child's dream of death
Torment, Ill forgotten
A soul that will never rest
Innocence withdrawn in fear
Fires burning can you hear
Cries in the night
03 Live Undead (03:50)
Cascaded darkness
Walls close in on me
Nailed shut but my eyes still see
Severe anguish as my body evolves
The pain of life after death it resolves
Emptiness in twilight's rebirth
The faint sounds of shoveled earth
Madness growing as your mind dissolves
Merely secret in my dreams
Night grows cold, twilight's near
On the edge of madness the wounds are sheared
Forms of hanging, flesh shredded carcass
No spared breath
Imprisoned in a shell, ready to explode
Dead soul
Stone cold
Out into the night
Voices inside my head
Hold me under
Voices oppress
Like roaring thunder
An echo bouncing inside my brain
How much can I take of the pain
The pain!
A war raging deep inside my head
A split decision that will end with me dead
You see the agony in my eyes
Protruding aimless
I think it's time to die
A cannibal's desire feeds the fire
that burns in your head
Intense pain eats away at your brain
Thorazine pumping through your veins
Death walks inside you
Smell death around you
Hell's evil spell takes a soul
Hear the sound of the bell
Counting off death tolls
Laughing as you eternally rot
Searching for human flesh
And life's blood
Live Undead
04 Behind the Crooked Cross (03:14)
Time melts away in this living inferno
Trapped by a cause that I once understood
Feeling a sickness building inside of me
Who will I really have to answer to
March on through the rivers of red
Souls drift, They fill the air
Forced to fight, Behind
The crooked cross
Do only what is expected of me
With no emotions my feelings suppressed
Blind obedience carries me through it all
Conscience a word I learned to forget
March on through the rivers of red
Flesh burns, It fills the air (Souls drift, They feel...)
Forced to fight, Behind
The crooked cross
Time melts away in this living inferno
Trapped by a cause that I once understood
Blind obedience carries me through it all
Do only what is expected of me
March on through the rivers of red
Souls drift, They fill the air
Forced to fight, Behind
The crooked cross
05 Mandatory Suicide (04:05)
Murder at your every foot step
A child's toy sudden death
Sniper blazes you through your knees
Falling down can you feel the heat
Burn!
Ambushed by the spray of lead
Count the bullet holes in your head
Offspring sent out to cry
Living mandatory suicide
Suicide
Holes burn deep in your chest
Raked by machine gun fire
Screaming soul sent out to die
Living mandatory suicide
Suicide
Lying, Dying, Screaming in pain
Begging, Pleading, Bullets drop like rain
Mines explode, Pain sheers through your brain
Radical amputation, This is insane
Fly swatter stakes drive through your chest
Spikes impale you as you're forced off the crest
Soldier of misfortune
Hunting with bated breath
A vile smell, Like tasting death
Dead bodies, Dying and wounded
Litter the city streets
Shattered glass, Bits of clothing and human deceit
Dying (in) terror
Blood's cheap, It's everywhere
Mandatory suicide, Massacre on the front line
07 Read Between the Lies (03:20)
Evangelist you claim God speaks through you
Your restless mouth full of lies gains popularity
You care not for the old that suffer
When empty pockets cry from hunger
Penniless from their generosity
Sharing their money to quench your greed
Searching for the answer to their prayers
They cry their last wish of need
Save me
His spirit lives and breathes in me
The almighty transformed to your screen
The meanings lost in its translation
No holy words, Describe his deception
You say you'll help us find the lord
Tell me preacher how do you know
A simple quest for a visible savior
To lead us through our final prayer
Save me
Send your donations
Contribute to the cause
Luxuries
Your righteous reward?
Praise the lord, praise god
Is what you wish to sell
There is no heaven without a hell
In your mind's eye could you truly believe
That by giving you can save your soul
Could you be so naive!
You heal the sick, (You) raise the dead
You blind the congregation
With the things you say
Religious blackmail a deceit of trust
That death will come and all will be lost
Can you hear the serpents call
Look deep in those deceiving eyes
Ignore the writing on the wall
You should read between the lies
When doubt subsides his honesty
An inquiry, Is it blasphemy?
Impure the soul, That's made to suffer
No sermons left to hide or cover
An empty promise, Lie unfulfilled
To steal a dream or get it killed
They claim your trip to heavens nearby
You may believe it but Satan wouldn't lie
08 Cleanse the Soul (03:02)
Body that rests before me
With every dying breath
Spellbound and gagged
I commence your flesh to dirt
Body that lay before me
In everlasting death
Entombed in abscess
To rot and lie stinking in the earth
Empty altar awaits its victim
Stained glass windows black
Candles burn the midnight oil
Incense fills the night
Observing trance awaking state
Lying still unknowing
Reciting the passages of time
Prepare for the impaling
Death's an art, flesh and earth never part
A power of the mind
Death shines on the air of silence
A ritual of endless time
Purged of your dead body
Sacrificed of your life
Unearthly ritual sealed in fire
Enter the kingdom of desire
09 Dissident Aggressor (02:35)
(original by Judas Priest)
Grand canyons of space and time universal
My mind is subjected to all
Stab! Fight!
The hooks to my brain are well in
Stab! Fight!
I know what I am, I'm Berlin
Cracked, blackened memories of unit dispersal
I face the impregnable wall
Stab! Fight!
The hooks to my brain are well in
Stab! Fight!
I know what I am, I'm Berlin
Exploding, reloading, this quest never ending
Until I give out my last breath
Stab! Fight!
The hooks to my brain are well in
Stab! Fight!
I know what I am, I'm Berlin
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Other reviews
By DOOM
"'South Of Heaven' is indeed a less fast-paced album, more refined in terms of rhythm, and extremely well crafted in terms of songwriting."
"Some tracks with a gloomy atmosphere in full doom style make their appearance, which would become a strong point during live performances."
