Maps of Music

South of Heaven (1988)

Where the lyrics of South of Heaven take you, and where it was really made.

Slayer chose not to top the speed of Reign in Blood and deliberately slowed the tempo instead.

Key places

Recorded in Los Angeles (1988)

Recording site Motown Recording Studios — The album was recorded in Los Angeles with producer Rick Rubin. This point is marked at city-center level, not at a building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording studio in New York City (1988)

Recording site Chung King Studios — Chung King Studios in New York City is listed among the recording locations for this album. The point marks the studio building itself. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• South of Heaven: fourth studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer
• Released July 5, 1988 by Def Jam Recordings
• Slayer deliberately slowed the tempo, using undistorted guitars and toned-down vocals
• Second Slayer album produced by Rick Rubin, and the last released by Def Jam
• Rights moved to Rubin's Def American Recordings after Rubin split from Russell Simmons
• One of only two Def Jam titles distributed by Geffen Records through Warner Bros. Records

Background

• Followed Reign in Blood, so the band made no attempt to top its pace
• Guitarist Jeff Hanneman: the only album the members discussed before writing the music
• Kerry King attributes his lackluster performance to having recently married and moved to Phoenix, Arizona
• Columbia Records, Def Jam's original distributor, refused to release the band's material

Recording

• Recorded in Los Angeles with producer Rick Rubin
• Critic Adrien Begrand noted that Rubin's production put Dave Lombardo's drumming right up front in the mix

Cover

• Larry Carroll and Howard Schwartzberg designed the cover, the same team that worked on Reign in Blood
• Back cover is a promotional shot taken by Glen E. Friedman
• Front cover artwork inspired by the KNM-ER 1470 skull

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in 1981 in Huntington Park, California by Kerry King, Jeff Hanneman, Dave Lombardo and Tom Araya.
• Started by playing covers of Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Venom at parties and clubs in Southern California.
• Signed with Metal Blade Records after the song "Aggressive Perfector" appeared on Metal Massacre III.

Members

• Current lineup: Kerry King, Tom Araya, Paul Bostaph and Gary Holt; Holt joined in 2011 and became permanent after Hanneman's death in 2013.
• Former members include drummers Dave Lombardo (left three times) and Jon Dette.

Career

• Released twelve studio albums, including Reign in Blood (1986), widely described as one of the most influential thrash metal albums.
• Christ Illusion (2006) won a Grammy for "Eyes of the Insane", the band's first Grammy-related recognition.
• Disbanded in 2019 after a farewell tour and reunited for sporadic shows from 2024.
• Considered one of the "Big Four" of thrash metal alongside Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Critical acclaim overall, with some praising the change in the band's sound
• Listeners more used to the earlier style were somewhat disappointed
• AllMusic's Alex Henderson described the record as disturbing and powerful
• Ultimate Guitar's Joe Matera called it a slight departure: slower, but without losing any heaviness
• Rolling Stone's Kim Neely dismissed the album as offensive satanic drivel

Reappraisal

• Rolling Stone later ranked the album 47th on its 2017 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time list
• Decibel inducted it into the Decibel Magazine Hall of Fame in January 2013
• Araya said it was a late bloomer that grew on everybody later

Records

• Peaked at number 57 on the Billboard 200, the second Slayer album to chart there
• Certified gold by the RIAA on November 20, 1992, the second Slayer gold album in the US
• Certified silver by the BPI on January 1, 1993, the first Slayer certification in the UK

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The front cover artwork was inspired by KNM-ER 1470, an incomplete skull of an archaic human found in Kenya in 1972.
• The title track and Mandatory Suicide have become near constant fixtures in the band's live setlist.
• Judas Priest's Dissident Aggressor is the only cover song on a Slayer studio album, chosen for its war-themed lyrics.
• Rolling Stone ranked the album 47th on its 2017 list of the 100 greatest metal albums.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

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