Heathen

For the past 40 years, the venerated Thrash Metal outfit Heathen has abided by its never-say-die attitude. Formed in 1984 in San Francisco’s Bay Area—home to Exodus, Metallica, Testament, and Death Angel—Heathen quickly separated itself from the pack by expertly fusing David White’s distinctive vocals with a melody-driven and forward-thinking musical style. The band’s first two albums, Breaking the Silence and Victims of Deception, are widely regarded as Bay Area Thrash classics. The Heathen brand of intelligent yet aggressive Thrash appealed not only to the genre’s core demographic, but also to Metal fans looking for brains behind the brawn. The modern-era albums, The Evolution of Chaos and Empire of the Blind, continued to push the boundaries of the genre, expanding their audience while restoring faith in vicious yet brainy Thrash Metal, the very kind that put Heathen on the map. In recent years, the band has toured the world extensively with contemporaries such as Testament, Exodus, Overkill, and Symphony X, culminating in the release of the Bleed the World: Live album.

Now, with a new label home at Napalm Records, Heathen continues to deliver its brand of heavy yet melodic Thrash Metal with the new 12” Maxi Single Never a God. Featuring two songs originally written in the early 1990s, the release pays homage to Laughing Dead and Psychosis, bands in which the members played during their formative years. “Never a God” features the Bay Area crunch in full effect, with a compact, punchy song structure, while “Twist of Faith” showcases the more progressive and melodic elements of the band, taking the listener on a musical journey. In true ‘90s fashion, both songs feature a common lyrical theme of the era: religion. The cover artwork for the release, by Travis Smith, depicts an eyeless monarch wearing a crown of knives. Produced by guitarist Kragen Lum and mixed by Zeuss, Never a God serves as a bridge between the past and the present, as well as the pathway leading toward a bright future: the next Heathen album.