Slayer South Of Heaven production

[Roncore]

I LOVE the sound of this album, particularly the drums. Does anybody know of any articles or anything with Rick or his engineers talking about production techniques on this record?

I'm interested in the drums, I know they are pushed way up in the mix, but they sound dry to me, which I think is why I like them so much.

Any ideas on how to achieve that sound, besides transporting back in town, or stealing Dave Lombardo?

 

[Roncore]

For reference

 

[006]

Damn hi-hats are loud I don't really care for Slayer so I haven't heard this in a loooong time. There is definitely some room and/or verb going on the drums, though.

 

[greyskull]

Sounds like marshalls with marshall 75 watt cabs; deffo got that phasey thing going on that you get from g12 75's.
Drums??DRY?
That snare is Swimming in reverb.

 

[EffigyForgotten]

Why the hell would anyone care/want that sound? If the music wasn't awesome then Slayer would be one of the worst metal bands on this planet...

Hell even their last album sounded like shit, I mean seriously why don't they take advantage of amps/gear that don't sound like undergained loose duck pussies?

 

[Sloan]

undergained loose duck pussies

I also have never been a big fan of Slayer's album sounds.

 

[Nimvi]

All I can say is that this album makes me want to play doom.

 

[egan.]

South of Heaven is awesome. It's Andy Wallace for one but when considering the production you have to frame it with the understanding that this record was recorded in 1987. It basically sounds like slayer actually sounds -- raw and unpolished.

 

[AllanD]

Hmmm, I still think Reign in Blood still has one of the best guitar tones ever. I wasn't a fan of this albums sound though.

 

[Roncore]

I don't know what I like about it so much, but I just really love the drum sound, minus the super loud hi-hat that was mentioned above haha I read that Dave hated the drum sound at first, but now it's one of his favorites

 

[xTomx]

I really like the snare sound. It's not much of the snares themselves, just a nice mid-range crack.

 

[EffigyForgotten]

Hmmm, I still think Reign in Blood still has one of the best guitar tones ever. I wasn't a fan of this albums sound though.

RIB is a decent old school thrash sound but every other album sound terrible... Its like the amps they were using had their balls removed and replaced with pussies on their periods...

 

[aramism]

SOH was both produced and mix by andy wallace i think

 

[The Unavoidable]

If the music wasn't awesome then Slayer would be one of the worst metal bands on this planet...

If the music wasn't good, then the music would be bad?


Love the sound on this record btw.

 

[slayercannibalsuffohead]

I love the drum sound on SOH. Yet another great sounding album, great songwriting and a production that suits them down to a "T". The amps don't need "balls", not like "breakdowns" do. Raw and unpolished is real, not like this stop start shit that is saturating albums these days. I don't think you'll ever see Jeff and Kerry umming and aarrring over a Kemper profiling amp, because it's 98% accurate, and it just "doesn't capture that valviness" exactly. They have been writing albums since the early 80's and still kick hard today, and yes, while their albums aren't "Sneapatized", they know what they want when they hit the studio, and there is a certain element to their complete package, and their guitar and drum sounds have always suited thrash metal. Non fully processed thrashing machine, coupled with great productions for their genre = more albums sold than most other thrash bands put together.