Friedman took the promotional shot which surfaced as the back cover of South of Heaven around the time of 1986's Reign in Blood. Photography and illustration Īrtist Larry Carroll and illustrator Howard Schwartzberg designed the cover artwork for South of Heaven, having designed the artwork for Slayer's previous album Reign in Blood. If we ever did a medley, I'd put part of that in there." The Slayer boxset Soundtrack to the Apocalypse featured, along with four songs off the album, an early version of the title track, recorded at Hanneman's home. It's what we call a 'happy riff.' It's just like 'la-lala-la-la-la.' I can't see myself playing it, but after that, where it gets heavier, I like that section. Meanwhile, "Cleanse the Soul" has been heavily criticized by King who said that he hates the track: "That's one of the black marks in our history, in my book.
Hanneman described the track as "more just like one of those odd songs that a lot of people didn't know, but it was a favorite of Kerry and I, so we just picked that one". The song was chosen due to its war-themed lyrics. Judas Priest's " Dissident Aggressor" is the first cover version to appear on a Slayer studio album. Again, I was probably wanting something else." Drummer Dave Lombardo has since observed: "There was fire on all the records, but it started dimming when South of Heaven came into the picture. He feels vocalist Tom Araya moved too far away from his regular vocal style, and "added too much singing". I guess at that time, Kerry was hitting a dry spell." King has also been critical of the album in general, describing it as one of his least favorite Slayer albums.
Hanneman said: "We go through dry spells sometimes, but the good thing about having two guitar players that can write music is that you are never gonna go without. Describing himself as "probably the odd man out at that point", he stated he "didn't participate as much because of that". King attributes this to the fact he had recently married, and moved to Phoenix, Arizona. King has since been critical of his performance, which he describes as his "most lackluster". "They also added elements like undistorted guitars and toned-down vocal styles not heard on previous albums." "In order to contrast the aggressive assault put forth on Reign in Blood, Slayer consciously slowed down the tempo of the album as a whole", according to Slayer's official biography. Guitarist Kerry King cited the need to "keep people guessing" as another reason for the musical shift. Aware that they "couldn't top Reign in Blood", and that whatever they recorded would be "compared to that album", he believed they "had to slow down", something Slayer had never done on albums before, or since. Guitarist Jeff Hanneman has since said that South of Heaven was the only album the band members discussed before writing the music. PopMatters reviewer Adrien Begrand observed that Rubin's production "shoves Lombardo's drumming right up front in the mix". The album was recorded in Los Angeles, California with Reign in Blood producer Rick Rubin. South of Heaven was later certified gold by the RIAA in 1992. Nonetheless, the songs "Mandatory Suicide" and the title track have since become permanent features of the band's live setlist. While some critics praised the change in the band's sound, others more accustomed to the style of their earlier efforts were disappointed. South of Heaven became Slayer's second album to enter the Billboard 200, peaking at number 57. The album was one of only two Def Jam titles to be distributed by Geffen Records through Warner Bros., as Def Jam's then-distributor Columbia refused to release work by the band. South of Heaven was the band's last album released by Def Jam, although the rights were transferred to Rubin's new label Def American Recordings after Rubin ended his partnership with Russell Simmons. Given the frenetic pace of Reign in Blood, Slayer made no attempt to top it on South of Heaven rather, the band offset and complemented Reign in Blood by deliberately slowing the tempo down on South of Heaven, as well as by utilizing undistorted guitars and toned-down vocals. The album was the band's second collaboration with producer Rick Rubin, whose production skills on their previous album Reign in Blood (1986) had helped their sound evolve.
South of Heaven is the fourth studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer, released on Jby Def Jam Recordings.
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