Slayer
South of heaven

THE REVIEW

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.