**** <i> Great Balls of Fire</i> *** <i> Good Vibrations</i> ** <i> Maybe Baby</i> * <i> Running on Empty </i> : Warp-Speed Mayhem

*** 1/2 SLAYER. “South of Heaven.” Def Jam. From a note confiscated during summer school remedial history:

Hey dude, Slayer’s new album, “South of Heaven,” is killer, man! You heard they aren’t speed-metal masters like before, that maybe they’ve slowed down and sold out? No way! Just listen to “Cleanse the Soul” or “Ghosts of War.” They’re classic warp-speed mayhem that makes your brain explode.

Yeah, they have some slower tunes here, but the beat’s so heavy, it’ll rattle your bones. The title track is spooky, man, and “Crooked Cross” even has a cool melody that goes with its throat-grabbing riffs. Besides, how can anyone say they’re trying to be commercial when my old man hates their lyrics even more than he did before--see, he can hear them better now, ‘cause Tom Araya doesn’t scream as much as he used to. Man, when he sings now, it’s like getting a vicious left hook and when he does let go with a deathly yell, it’s hellacious!

The production is great, as usual--that rap dude, Rick Rubin, can sure pull off a great metal record when he gets the savage urge. Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King’s guitars are way crisp and Dave Lombardo’s drums sound like gunshots. I admit, I wasn’t too sure about this record at first, but then it grew on me like a festering rash. Who cares if the parents and the preachers hate these radical guys--they also hate horror flicks and Judge Dredd comics, all the stuff we dig. “South of Heaven” proves that the massive talent of these raging thrashers can’t be denied!