South of Heaven is the fourth studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer, released on July 5, 1988, by Def Jam Recordings.

PopMatters reviewer Adrien Begrand observed that Rubin's production "shoves [Dave] Lombardo's drumming right up front in the mix".

[2] 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.

[6] 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.

"[7] 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.

[2] Photographer Glen E. Friedman took the promotional shot which surfaced as the back cover of South of Heaven around the time of 1986's Reign in Blood.

[2] The artwork shown on the front cover was inspired by KNM-ER 1470, an incomplete skull of an archaic human of the extinct species Homo rudolfensis that was discovered in 1972 in Kenya.

"[4] Alex Henderson of AllMusic described the record as "disturbing and powerful,"[9] while Joe Matera of Ultimate Guitar deemed the album a slight departure; he wrote that while the pace was slowed down, it "didn't sacrifice any of the heaviness inherent in Slayer's music".

"[24] When discussing Slayer in an October 2007 interview, Evile frontman Matt Drake stated that while Reign in Blood "was just speed", South of Heaven proved that the group could write "slow material as well".

[26] Slayer's official biography states: "The new sounds disappointed some of the band's fans who were more accustomed to the style of earlier releases.

Due to Jeff Hanneman's death in May of the same year, South of Heaven would be the second and final classic Slayer album to receive an induction into Decibel's Hall of Fame.

2 only featured two tracks originally from the album: "Silent Scream", arranged by Vader, and "Read Between the Lies", interpreted by Anathema.

[33] The 2006 Argentine tribute album Al Sur Del Abismo (Tributo Argentino A Slayer) saw Nafak and Climatic Terra also respectively cover "South of Heaven" and "Mandatory Suicide".

[39] Adrien Begrand of PopMatters described "South of Heaven" as "an unorthodox set opener in theory", noting "the song went over like a megaton bomb detonating the place: dozens of inverted crosses projected behind the high drum riser, the sinewy opening notes kicked in, followed by an overture of bass, cymbal crashes, and tom fills, leading up to the slowly building crescendo" in a concert review.

"[5] A live version of the track featured on the JÄGERMUSIC Rarities 2004 promotional CD, given away to attendees at the Spring 2004 Jägermeister Music Tour.

[41] A live rendition of "South of Heaven" was also included on a bonus DVD which came with the group's 2007 re-release of ninth studio album Christ Illusion, shot in Vancouver, British Columbia during 2006's Unholy Alliance tour.

"[43] Slayer has toyed with the idea of creating a live set mixed with selections from the album and 1990's Seasons in the Abyss, though Hanneman said it's something which hasn't been "seriously considered".

[44] Metal Maniacs asked Slayer in a 2006 interview whether they would consider playing South of Heaven in the footsteps of the Still Reigning tour, to which Araya replied, "It's becoming a trendy thing now.