Victims of Deception

Back in the early 1990's, thrash was on it's last legs for the most part, save aside a few bands that released some solid albums, and Heathen fell into that group that still released a solid album.

The album opens with 'Hypnotized' which starts with a spoken intro, sounding like a gospel show on TV, this song basically says churches are screwing people out of money, and of what they truly believe in, yes this band writes intelligent lyrics, after the intro, the song starts with some heavy as fuck riffs, with some nice classical guitar overtones which lasts about 2 minutes, then the thrashing begins, with some excellent shredding riffs, and David White comes in, and I love this guys vocals, kind of a cross between thrash and power metal, mostly thrash though, love the chorus as well 'your fate, will soon, BE CALLED!' next is 'Opiate of the Masses' this is the song that got me into Heathen, this is some mid-paced thrash at it's best, bludgeoning, plodding, and heavy as fuck, and might I mention catchy too, with awesome verses' and a killer chorus followed by a solo that absolutely shreds, Lee Altus can sure play.

Next is 'Heathen's Song' which is a monolith of a song, clocking in at 9:26, opening with some more excellent classical guitar, and David White showing off his powerful voice, this song is mostly mid-paced throughout, but does change to give it a nice dose of speed, I'll skip to 'Fear of the Unknown' this song gets things thrashing again at full speed, it opens with a dark sound, not sure what it is, then some nice bass fills, and a touch of more classical guitar, then the thrashing begins, not much else to say about it, just a good solid thrash song, next is 'Prisoners of Fate' this would be the ballad of the album, but you know what?! I THINK IT'S AWESOME, it's a nice change of pace for the album, starting with a beautiful classical guitar intro, this song does actually get pretty heavy, especially for a ballad, don't just skip this song, it's worth listening to.

I'll skip down to the closer 'Mercy is no Virtue' which closes things down in a thrashing rage, and kicks in right off, with killer verses' and the chorus rules as well, and a nice heavy as fuck break in the middle, which Heathen are sure known for, followed by a solo that absolutely takes no prisoners, with some nice walking of the fretboard, yes indeed they know how to solo.

If you want something to compare this to, it would be Metallica's '...And Justice for All' while it's not a ripoff, they were obviously trying to do something similar to that album, only Heathen did it better! not just because of the production, obviously it wouldn't take much to top ...And Justice's production, but the song writing as well as the riffs and everything else.

Bottom line, if you want some solid power/thrash in the vein of ...And Justice, this is the album for you to check out, I highly recommend this album.