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Bacteria13
Hatross Overlord
Joined: 30 Jan 2003
Posts: 2465
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 Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2005 6:45 pm Post subject: HEATHEN – RECOVERED |
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HEATHEN – RECOVERED (RELENTLESS RECORDS)
Anyone remember Heathen? They were a superb thrash metal band that came out of San Francisco back in the mid 80’s, alongside Metallica, Exodus, Forbidden et al. Their debut album, Breaking the Silence, was a classic upon its release, sitting firmly in the chug-chug thrash genre, with glorious vocals from David White. They were perhaps called unfairly a poor-man’s Metallica, White’s vocals definitely in the same ballpark as Hetfield’s, nevertheless, BTS was and is a thrash masterpiece.
(Incidentally, in 1988 Paul Baloff recorded a demo with the band – I’ve never heard it but I’d love to get my hands on it if anyone reading this has a copy?)
Second album Victims of Deception was released on band-killer label Roadrunner Records, and never got the proper push it deserved. Consequently the record died a horrible death and the band dissolved into once-runners, until 2001 when they reformed for the Thrash of the Titans benefit gig for Testament vocalist Chuck Billy. Thankfully, the reunion stuck and the band proceeded to record new material, some of which is featured on this release, Recovered.
Boasting originals and covers from such bands as Queen, Tigers of Pan Tang, Sweet Savage and Thin Lizzy, Recovered is both a reminder and teaser of what this once great band was and can do. The new material is classic Heathen, especially on the brilliant ‘Mercy is no Virtue’ - chugging guitars, gorgeous solos and those powerful vocals of White which seemingly haven’t changed since the mid-eighties.
For those interested, the first two Heathen albums, Breaking the Silence and Victims of Deception are available to download for free at Heathen’s official website, as are samplers from Recovered:
http://www.heathenmetal.com/
Highly recommended.
Bacteria13. |
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