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WINNAR! - 97%
Good-glayvin-moyvin-HAAAAYVIN!! What an album! Too bad though, Heathen is a band that sadly died an early death after this album. They did return for a 3 song demo in 2005 but nothing came of it (other than 3 spectacular true thrash songs.)
Alright let's get things out of the way, I pretty much declare Heathen to be kings of flash. What's flash? Flash is a school of guitar technique that is similar to wankery in one area, they both use fookin' hard technique. Unlike wankery, flash actually adds to the song. Case in point the absolutely phenomenal opener "Hypnotized," one listen at the sweeps in the beginning will make you soil yourself at least ten times, consecutively. Flash comes hand in hand with feel, listen to "Heathen's Song" and "Prisoner of Fate."
Yep, Lee Altus has it all (let's forget about his current tenure in Exodus shall we?) and his partner-in-shred Doug Piercy ain't bad either. Singer Doug White (aka Godfrey) puts his pipes to good use, though he's not as impressive as Knutson (who is?). Drummer Darren Minter is quite good, he's clearly an above average thrash drummer but he doesn't stand out from the crowd too much.
Alright, the production is a marvel. The guitar tone is fuckin' sweet and they are front and center in every song. The vocals are a little echo-y but it's still lightyears ahead of say...Bonded by Blood (the album, of course.) The drums are a little distant but they are quite loud. The bass...is not there, I'm not sure but I didn't hear it at all. I feel sorry for Biedermann, his band just bit the dust and Heathen basically said "Hey stand on-stage and look like you're playing bass!"
The songs are fantastic. From the Jimmy Swaggart introduced opener "Hypnotized" to the good-gracious inducing "Timeless Cell Prophecy," they are all fucking classics. Even the ballads are great. And you should definitely listen to "Guitarmony." Also of note is their totally thrashed up version Rainbow's "Kill the King." Blackmore would be proud of the guitar-heroics there.
So, without further ado, I highly recommend getting this album, through whatever means necessary. Best of all, you don't even have to pay for it. It's free from here: [url]http://www.heathenmetal.com/index2.html[/url]
