Album Review: HEATHEN Empire Of The Blind (9/18)

Released by Nuclear Blast on September 18th, 2020

Quick Background

Heathen is a thrash metal band originating from the Bay Area, active from 1984 to 1993 and again from 2001 onwards. They have gone through several line-up changes, leaving guitarist Lee Altus and singer Dave White as the only constant members in all studio albums. Heathen released two studio albums in the first phase: Breaking the Silence (1987) and Victims of Deception (1991). Then they went on a hiatus from 1993 until returning with the excellent The Evolution of Chaos in 2010. 

Empire of the Blind

Empire of the Blind is now the 4th studio album by Heathen. The album has been ten years on the making due to the guitar players being busy with Exodus. Apart for the intro and outro short tracks, the album features 10 proper metal songs in just about 45 minutes. That's at the limit of what I consider a good length for a metal album. So that's good news. I also like that the intro and outro song are related as they have the same harmony and melody which brings the album full circle. This intro "This Rotting Sphere" features a build up that is perfectly designed to open their shows. "The Blight" follows bringing on the aggressive speed combined with melody, it's pure old school Bay Area thrash metal. It's a fantastic thrash song with some amazing riffs, guitar solos and drum work. The almost 6-min long title track follows with an epic feel to it. It was the right choice for the title of the album. It's a great song and continues the musical path from the previous records. The guitar work is just great. It combines ferocious thrash riffs with a melodic guitar lines unearth the mix throughout the whole song. It made me think of early Iced Earth songs. "Sun in My Hand" uses similar ideas and it is more traditional heavy metal than thrash. The use of catchy melodies via the guitar phrasing or vocal lines is a constant throughout the album. "Blood to Be Let" and "The Gods Divide" are two other thrash jewels. It's also refreshing to hear a fully instrumental almost 6 min thrash song "A Fine Red Mist" 

At several moments Heathen can sound like their east coast peers from Anthrax specially in the near crossover songs such as "Dead and Gone" and "Devour". Unfortunately those don't really work for me. The production is quite contemporary and clear, the bass is locked in with the drums and it works well as the foundation, but it's never a highlight. The guitarwork and tone sound great though.

The Picky Guy

The album is a bit of a victim of its own success. I say that because the first two proper songs are so good that the ones that follow while good became a bit of a disappointment.  Not to mention the ballad "Shrine of Apathy" which is totally disposable and it really doesn't fit this album. 

Wrap Up Opinion 

Empire of the Blind is a diverse album and while the roots are in the Bay Area Thrash scene, Heathen display influences from traditional heavy metal and crossover thrash metal. Musically they explored with mid tempo songs, a ballad and a instrumental song. Some of those worked, some didn't and overall their best songs here are the speedy thrashy ones. Empire of the Blind,  is not perfect but is a worthy 80/100 addition to Heathen's discography which I hope will growth much faster from now on. 

 

SCORE: 80/100

Genre: Thrash Metal

Released by Nuclear Blast on September 18th, 2020

Rating System*
99 - 100 Perfect
94 - 98 Excellent
87 - 93 Great
82 - 86 Very Good
77 - 81 Good
66 - 76 Mixed
58 - 65 Bad

* slightly adapted on May 24th, 2020 due to statistical review
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