Victims of Deception

“Victims of Deception”, Heathen's second album, is the most ambitious piece this underrated thrash act ever recorded and released. While “Breaking the Silence” had some pretty technical, proggy moments, but was a relatively straight-forward thrash metal album, “Victims” is way more intricate and complex, all the songs are pretty damn long and the musicianship is absolutely top notch. I usually compare this album to Dark Angel's “Time Does Not Heal” as both are two of the most important prog thrash records released, both also being heavily influenced by Metallica's “...And Justice for All”. While “Time Does Not Heal” is a good record, I prefer “Victims”, because it is, at the same time, a complex album but also extremely catchy and memorable. “Time Does Not Heal” contains many long songs but they are too long for their own sake, all of them lacking memorable hooks, which drags the album down a bit.

Anyways, the drumming is way better on this album than on its predecessor; while on “Breaking the Silence” the drummer's performance was tight but still kind of simple, on this piece it is complex as hell and we can never predict what he is going to do next. He also doesn't overuse the double bass pedals, which is a clear plus in my books. Curiously, the double bass pedals sound 'clicky', which proves that Heathen were very influenced by Metallica's “And Justice For All”. The vocals are much better here than on the previous album too, the vocalist clearly adopts a more melodic approach to the majority of the songs, which turns out to be great (see the first half of “Prisoners of Fate”). Obviously, he also sounds pretty aggressive at times.

The guitar work is as good on this album as on the previous, but this time it also is a bit more varied: lots of songs include clean guitar segments, where the two guitar players really show that they can also play some beautiful lines sometimes. “Prisoners of Fate” is a perfect example and so is “Heathen's Song”, probably the best song Heathen ever made. Curiously, it isn't a pure thrash metal tune, it is more midpaced, containing a calm intro, with the gentle guitar lines being accompanied by some melodic vocals. After that, the heavy main riff kicks in and the song quickly becomes heavier until we reach another clean guitar break. After a long and fast solo section, the song ends as it began, with those beautiful calm guitar lines being played again. A fantastic track, one of the best thrash metal songs ever recorded. “Prisoners of Fate” is shorter but also pretty damn good, its first half being, again, quite calm, with the second one being a bit heavier and very catchy (“prisoners of fate! Prisoners of fate!”).

As “Breaking the Silence” had “Set Me Free”, a Sweet cover, “Victims of Deception” has another cover, the classic “Kill the King”, written by Rainbow, the famous hard rock/heavy metal band. While I love the original version and actually prefer it over the cover, I've got to say that it is performed flawlessly: the solos are excellent and the vocal performance astounding. “Fear of the Unknown” follows, being another great tune, very fast and containing a somber intro. The bass is particularly proeminent on this track. “Morbid Curiosity” is another highlight, great riffs and solo (yeah, what a solo, the best one on the album in my opinion). That “what happened to them... could have happened... to yoooooooooooooou” is simply awesome.

The first two tunes are also winners. “Hypnotized” is for “Victims” what “Blackened” was for “Justice”: an amazing track, being quite complex but, at the same time, catchy and raw, setting the tone for the rest of the album. Its structure is incredibly intricate and the chorus is very well written. “Opiate of the Masses” is another complex track, not as memorable as “Hypnotized” but still very strong.

The only two tracks that I don't like that much are “Mercy is No Virtue” and “Timeless Cell of Prophecy”. The first contains some good parts but isn't that memorable and the latter, albeit a tad stronger, doesn't hold my attention. Finally, “Guitarmony” is a little instrumental, heavily focused on the guitar solos. An enjoyable, albeit short, piece.

The production is also incredibly strong, the guitars sounding quite powerful and the drums are very audible. The bass isn't that present though. So, concluding, another great Heathen album and definitely recommended to every metalhead out there who likes technical/progressive thrash metal. If “And Justice For All” is your favourite Metallica album, be sure you check this out!

Best Moments of the CD:
-the solo of “Morbid Curiosity”.
-the ending of “Heathen's Song”.
-the spoken intro of the opener, “Hypnotized”.