03-03-2010Album reviews - Heathen
The Evolution of Chaos 4/5 Review
Even though their debut album 'Breaking the Silence' came out of the 80's hotbed of thrash metal, the Bay Area San Francisco in '87, Heathen's first outing didn't grab me by the (then) flowing locks that the likes of Death Angel, Vio-lence, Exodus etc did and so they pretty much passed me by up until I actually witnessed them live in '91 with Sacred Reich when they supported Sepultura on the first round of their Arise tour. I have to admit they were good in the live setting despite only having about 30 minutes set time and very limited stage room. Unfortunately, when I returned to their recorded output with the live buzz, again it didn’t fire me up.
The band then split up around '92 and founder guitarist Lee Altus left sunny Cali for rainy Europe to play with industrial mentalists Die Krupps. He then returned to the good ol' US of A in 2005 to join Thrash titans Exodus at the same time putting his heart back into Heathen as well.
Now in Feb 2010, Lee has put his high standard of axe shredding on the 2 most recent original Exodus albums as well as the new Heathen album being unleashed and my God what a corker it is. His time in Exodus is benefiting him immesnely as the new Heathen material is really exciting; if you like Shovel headed Kill Machine or The Atrocity Exhibit, The Evolution of Chaos is definitely for you. A little less pacey and more restrained than Exodus in places, Heathen are none the less thrashtastic. There are influences littered throughout the album that do put you in mind of other bands however it's in a positive way, never to the point where you feel yourself getting angered by the blatant stealing of music like some other lesser bands I could mention. Once you get your head together after the intriguing middle eastern intro that explodes into aggressive opener 'Dying Season' you'll see exactly what I mean (it could just me but I’m sure you can you hear traces of an angry Bruce Dickinson in David White's vocal delivery) Take listening to the intro segment of the 11 minute plus 'No Stone Unturned' for instance, it takes me straight back to vintage Metallica, say, Leper Messiah era with elements of Robb Flynn in the vocals this time, or the Exodus feel to the riffery of 'Arrows of Agony' which could sit happily on Fabulous Disaster. Crunching riffs, nice time changes and arrangements that compliment the groove just like our thrash heroes did back in their heyday. These comparisons are purely complimentary I hasten to add, not scathing attacks on plagiarism. Following on with the Exodus feel, the fast paced intro to 'Fade Away' literally drips and oozes ‘Impact is Imminent’, yet the song as a whole has its own identity and doesn't rely on the romantic retro aspect of modern day heavy music and ideals of the returning ebb of the classic Bay Area sound. Thinking about it, even if it did, I wouldn’t care - I loved it then and I absolutely love this now. 'Fade Away' is a top class thrash song; fast paced, aggressive shredding riffs complimented by quality leads and it scratches the itch just perfectly.
Winding down the intensity level to balance the album out, 'A Hero's Welcome' sees the guys slowing right down with gentle guitar picking supported by a military tattoo-esque snare rolling rhythm before it kicks into the main body of the song. Is that a beefed up Thin Lizzy's Emerald I can hear in there somewhere? I kid you not; I picked out the similar sounding riff arrangement straight away. Intentional or not, Emerald is a great tune so there's no quibbling around '…Welcome'. After the more mainline energy bursts of 'Undone' and 'Bloodkult' 'Red Tears of Disgrace' has the same approach as '…Welcome' with its gentle classical guitar lulling the listener into the obligatory false sense of security before dropping the clutch and getting stuck into the lead strengthened body of the song and bringing the rev counter into the red once again.
Wrapping up the album, the lurching intro of 'Silent Nothingness' soon kicks into its introductory mid paced driving beat underpinned by rock solid beat keeper Darren Minter with the melodic lead over the sustained chords of the opening passage meandering nicely before the boys get their heads down and go for it. The structure of the song soon develops with the sonorous thrash by numbers formula being destroyed by the mellifluous breakdown of gentle aureate lead passages, only then to be built up and kicked back into the aggressive mould before slipping back into the harmonious chorus and finality of the fade out finish.
When I come across a quality album, I make a mental note to keep it on my album of the year list. Said list then gets changed every month with my inability to stick to rigid guidelines where my (heavy) music is concerned. If I like it, I'm too long in the tooth to try and 'not like it' because it doesn’t fit in with what I used to be perceived as. Nowadays, if its good, its good. And this Heathen album is damn good. It's well written with a clear balance of angry riffs offset with interesting melody, meticulously executed and superbly produced which when put together gives an aggressive and catchy yet slightly progressive thrash album worthy of any self respecting music fan's collection.
This will remain on my mental list for the foreseeable future regardless of what comes my way.
SG
