South of Heaven is the fourth studio album by the American thrash metal band Slayer. Released on July 5 1988, the album was the band’s second collaboration with record producer Rick Rubin, whose production skills on Slayer’s previous album ‘Reign in Blood’ had helped the band’s sound evolve. ‘South of Heaven’ was Slayer’s second album to enter the Billboard 200, and its last to be released by Def Jam Recordings, although the album became an American Recordings album after Rick Rubin ended his partnership with Russell Simmons. In order to offset the pace of the group’s previous album, Slayer deliberately slowed down the album’s tempo. In contrast to their previous albums, the band utilised undistorted guitars and toned-down vocals which resulted in the classic songs ‘Mandatory Suicide’ and the title track becoming a permanent features of the band’s live set.
