UMUR "The Evolution of Chaos" is the 3rd full-length studio album by US, California based thrash metal act Heathen. The album was released through Mascot Records in January 2010. It´s the band´s first album in 19 years, as Heathen disbanded in 1993, after touring in support of their second full-length studio album "Victims of Deception" from 1991. Heathen reunited in 2001, and released the "Recovered" compilation in 2004 and recorded a demo in 2005. It would be five long years between the release of the demo and the release of "The Evolution of Chaos" though, which was probably in large part due to the fact that guitarist Lee Altus joined Exodus in 2005, and recorded and toured heavily with that band in those years.

Compared to the lineup who recorded "Victims of Deception (1991)" there are three members left: David White (vocals), Lee Altus (guitars), and Darren Minter (drums). New in the lineup are Jon Torres (bass) and Kragen Lum (guitars).

Stylistically Heathen pretty much continue where they left off in 1993. High quality melodic thrash metal with the occasional US power metal touch. Lead vocalist David White has a powerful and raw delivery, but is fully capable of singing softer more melodic lines too. He doesn´t have a particularly distinct sounding voice, so while he certainly brings the goods, his voice and singing style is pretty standard for the genre. The album features loads of hard edged thrash metal riffs, blistering melodic solos and harmonies, and a technically well playing powerful rhythm section. In other words, the musicianship is on a high level on all posts.

The material on the 11 track, 68:34 minutes long album are relatively varied, and not all are heavy fast-paced thrash metal tracks. The 11:10 minutes long "No Stone Unturned" is one of the standout tracks on the album, as it enters progressive metal territories with its many different sections and songwriting ideas (the song at times features a strong late 80s-Metallica influence). Another track which is quite different from the rest (and quite frankly gels with the rest of the material like oil gels with water) is "A Hero's Welcome" which has very little to do with thrash metal, and more to do with power metal. In fact it wouldn´t be completely out of place on a Blind Guardian album.

"The Evolution of Chaos" features a sharp, powerful, and detailed sounding production, which suits the material perfectly. So upon conclusion it´s a high quality release on all parameters. A slightly more unique sounding vocalist could probably have elevated the material to an even higher level, but "The Evolution of Chaos" is still overall a very strong release and a 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.

UMUR "Victims of Deception" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US, California based thrash metal act Heathen. The album was released through Roadrunner Records in April 1991. It´s the successor to "Breaking the Silence" from 1987 and features a whole new rhythm section compared to the lineup who recorded the predecessor. Drummer Carl Sacco has been replaced by Darren Minter and bassist Mike Jastremski has been replaced by Marc Biedermann. The latter who was also the frontman/guitarist in Blind Illusion, was not a permanent solution, and the band struggled for the rest of their original run to find a permanent solution on the bassist position.

The changes in the rhythm section, were not the only lineup changes or challenges the band experienced between the release of "Breaking the Silence (1989)" and "Victims of Deception". Lead vocalist David White left Heathen in 1988 and was replaced by former Exodus singer Paul Baloff, with whom they recorded a demo in the fall of 1988. Baloff´s tenure with Heathen would be short though, as the band broke up later that year when bassist Mike Jastremski decided to leave. It was a short break though as Heathen soon after reunited with former Metal Church singer David Wayne fronting the band. Wayne´s tenure would be even shorter than Baloff´s though, and he was replaced by original vocalist David White after only a few days in the band.

Stylistically the material on the 10 track, 64:45 minutes long album are technically well played thrash metal. David White is quite the versatile vocalist, and he can both deliver raw thrash metal vocals and sing more melodic. If I have to compare Heathen to another contemporary thrash metal act, it would be Forbidden. The occasional more melodic sections and singing and the technical skills of the musicians point in that direction.

The tracks are predominantly pretty long (most are between 6 and 9 minutes long) and relatively complex in structure. I wouldn´t call the music highly progressive, but the tracks are a little more complex than your regular vers/chorus structured thrash metal song. The quality of the material is high and consistent throughout, although the choice to cover "Kill the King" by Rainbow, and to place the song as the 4th track on the album, is a bit odd to my ears. There´s nothing wrong with the track or with Heathen´s performance of the track, it just feels a bit wrong on the album with it´s traditional/power metal style and its placement makes the tracklist seem a bit disjointed.

"Victims of Deception" features a powerful, clear, and professional sounding production, and upon conclusion it´s a high quality thrash metal release. Fans of late 80s/early 90s releases by artists like Forbidden, Dark Angel, Toxik, and Metallica should find this an intriguing listen. The music on "Victims of Deception" is just as sophisticated and technically well played as anything those artists put out in those years. Unfortunately for Heathen, they were too late in the game to achieve any notable success with "Victims of Deception" (by 1991 thrash metal was in decline). Had it been released just a couple of years earlier, when thrash metal was still on the rise, they would have had a much better chance of breaking through to a wider audience. That breakthrough never came, and after touring in support of the album, Heathen disbanded in 1993. "Victims of Deception" therefore remains a bit of an unsung gem, that fans of technically well played thrash metal are recommended to seek out. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Empire Of The Blind" is the 4th full-length studio album by US, California based thrash metal act Heathen. The album was released through Nuclear Blast in September 2020. It´s the successor to "The Evolution of Chaos" from 2010 and while it hasn´t been 19 years like it had been between "Victims of Deception (1991)" and "The Evolution of Chaos (2010)", 10 years between album releases are still a lot of years and a long waiting time for the faithful and dedicated fans. Not surprisingly there have been a couple of lineup changes since the predecessor as bassist Jon Torres has been replaced by Jason Mirza and drummer Darren Minter has been replaced by Jim DeMaria. Guitarists Lee Altus and Kragen Lum, and lead vocalist David White, remain from the lineup who recorded "The Evolution of Chaos (2010)".

Apparently 10 years between album releases and changing the rhythm section haven´t changed much, because "Empire Of The Blind" more or less sounds like it could have been released a year after "The Evolution of Chaos (2010)" and it could easily have been released by the exact same lineup, although Heathen seem to have gone for a slightly more concise songwriting approach on this one, as the tracks are generally shorter than on the predecessor.

Stylistically Heathen play a melodic yet still powerful style of thrash metal. White can both sing raw and more melodic, sometimes even touching US power metal styled vocals. He definitely wouldn´t be out of place on an Iced Earth album or anything in that vein. The instrumental part of the music is technically well played, varied, and very interesting in terms of the powerful playing rhythm section, the razor sharp thrashy riffs, but also the many melodic leads, harmonies, and guitar solos. The guitar work on the album is nothing short of amazing.

The material is well written, varied, and effective, and "Empire Of The Blind" also features a powerful, clear, and detailed sound production (courtesy of Zeuss), which suits the material perfectly. In other words a consistently strong and high quality thrash metal release. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

Kingcrimsonprog Empire Of The Blind was released in September on Nuclear Blast. Heathen are perhaps not the world’s most prolific band, having only released their fourth studio album since their 1980s inception in 2020, but when they do put something out, you can be sure its going to be good. Carrying on the general sound and vibe of their previous album, The Evolution Of Chaos, this new album sees the band once again blasting out crunchy Bay Area Thrash Metal riffs, a variety of fast, slow and mid-paced material, great melodic catchy choruses and superb melodic lead guitar lines. (Guitarist Lee Altus clearly uses Heathen nowadays as a vehicle to let out the cleaner catchier stuff that wouldn’t fit with his other band, Exodus).

The only main shift in direction from the previous record would be the amount of mid-paced or groove based parts is higher, and the number of speedy parts is a bit lower (although thankfully, without crossing the barrier into being ploddy too often).

They don’t frontload it and shove a bunch of filler at the end, it starts off restrained, opens up as it goes along, with the power-ballad just after the middle as a bit of a breather. It arguably gets better as it goes on, and also doesn’t drag on too long, clocking in at a solid 47 minutes with 10 proper tracks, an intro and an outro. The production is flawless, the vocals are remarkably good for singer Dave White’s age (holds up a lot better than many of his ‘80s contemporaries), and the overall flow of the album is just right.

Highlights include the tight and bouncy “Blood To Be Let” and the speedy “The God’s Divide” (I wish that was the album opener actually) as well as and the muscular “In Black” which feels like it could be played at sporting events, and reminds me a tiny little bit of the meatier material on Metallica’s Death Magnetic album (think “Judas Kiss” and “Broken, Beaten, Scarred”). The instrumental “A Fine Red Mist” is the real standout moment however, which balances the faster more powerful riffing with grand guitar textures and victorious mountaintop vista, sword-in-hand feel.

Kragen Lum has been handling the heavy lifting in the song-writing department, and seems to be more into creating a mood and leaving room for the singer and lead guitars to show their stuff, rather than just breaking teeth. The balance is not too dissimilar to recent Queensryche albums actually, (I don’t see how someone who loves Condition Human for example wouldn’t enjoy “Shrine Of Apathy”) although still unmistakably Heathen.

If I was to make a slight criticism, it could maybe do with one or two faster songs to keep the Thrashing up. For example just one more “The God’s Divide” would have elevated it from good to very good for me, but that’s just nit-picking and personal preference really, and Heathen have never been a Dark Angel or Razor focusing on relentless speed anyway. As long as you don’t go in expecting Darkness Descends, Reign In Blood or Pleasure To Kill however, this album is sure to satisfy and if you enjoyed The Evolution Of Chaos there’s little chance you’ll be disappointed with the quality of the songs or the performance of the musicians.

Kingcrimsonprog Heathen are one of the better of the underrated Bay Area Thrash Metal bands, from their melodic and catchy 1987 debut Breaking The Silence, to their dense and slightly progressive Victims Of Deception in 1991. After a long period of inactivity with only occasional appearances, they finally returned with 2010’s The Evolution Of Chaos (or 2009, if you lived in Japan).

Their guitarist Lee Altus has been making a name for himself in Exodus in recent years, and Exodus repay the favour with guest appearances on here by singer Rob Dukes and guitarist Gary Holt.

This album is very much modern Thrash done right; catchy melodies, memorable choruses, a good mixture of tempos but not forgetting to rock out and speed up, and utterly magnificent lead guitar work.

The production, from Juan Urteaga, is absolutely top drawer and equal to any of the modern Thrash releases by the likes of Andy Sneap. It sounds so clear and smooth, highlighting Heathen’s melodic aspirations really well.

In terms of direction, they do try and balance the style of both their more direct debut and their more ambitious sophomore effort, with steps into the future in the form of a whole new approach. The balance of those three key ideas has lead to a very fine record that fans of the band, and the genre at large need to check out.

If there was a slight criticism to be levelled at the album, it is quite long (68 and a half minutes!) but to be fair, there isn’t much in the way of filler either, so I guess we should just be grateful for having a lot of high quality material, even if it is hard to find the time to listen to it all in one sitting.

Here’s include the catchy “Arrows Of Agony,” the direct “Dying Season” and the varied “No Stone Left Unturned.”

Whereas some other heritage bands came back and their album was more of a step in the right direction (Forbidden) or a disappointment (Nuclear Assault), Heathen just nail it here. Well-written, well played and well produced. This set a standard for me against which comebacks can be judged (recently topped by Sacred Reich, but for the past decade, its definitely been one of the best).