South Of Heaven
South of Heaven, released in 1988, marked a significant musical departure. To contrast the aggressive assault put forth on Reign in Blood, Slayer consciously slowed down the tempo of the album as a whole. They also added elements like undistorted guitars and toned-down vocal styles not heard on previous albums. Some critics praised the album as demonstrating Slayer’s desire to grow musically and avoid repeating themselves. But the new sounds disappointed some of the band’s fans who were more accustomed to the style of earlier releases. Even though fans remain divided on the subject, two songs from the album (“Mandatory Suicide” and “South of Heaven”) have become almost permanent additions to the band’s live setlist. Following the release of South of Heaven, the band recorded a thrash-metal cover of Iron Butterfly’s signature song, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. This song was included on the soundtrack to the movie Less Than Zero.
