|
|
© Combat 1987
HEATHEN
Breaking The Silence
HEATHEN was one of the many great Thrash bands that was spawned from the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 80's, early 90's. Although they did not receive as much recognition from the metal populace as their more popular Bay Area Crunch compatriots (METALLICA, TESTAMENT, EXODUS, FORBIDDEN, VIO-LENCE), HEATHEN definitely could shred with the best of these bands. Admittedly, TESTAMENT's The Legacy and Practice What You Preach and FORBIDDEN's Forbidden Evil and Twisted into Form are, in my opinion, the absolute classic releases of this specific sound (other Bay Area groups such as DEATH ANGEL, MORDRED, and METALLICA also released undisputed classics, but they were not in the same Thrash style). However, HEATHEN's two discs earned them the right to be mentioned as one of the great Thrash bands of this era.HEATHEN's music is the definition of the Bay Area Crunch. Each tune is chock full of crunchy, galloping riffs, excellent guitar harmonies and leads, and driving double bass drumming. HEATHEN was somewhat unique in the vocal department. David Godfrey had a great melodic voice, tinged with aggression when appropriate, that set him above most of the Thrash vocalists around at that time. HEATHEN's drumming does not particularly stand out to me on Breaking the
Silence like it does on their even better sophomore disc Victims of Deception, but it certainly is solid."Death by Hanging" kicks off the disc with stupid lyrics but decent crunchy guitar. The lack of variety in riffing makes this one of the less appealing tracks on Breaking the Silence. "Goblin's Blade" exhibits fantasy-inspired lyrics which are cheesy but fun. This tune is relatively simple as well, but it is catchier than the first track. The third track, "Open the Grave", is an absolute classic of the genre. It showcases several extremely catchy chunky riffs that dare you to try to keep from headbanging or at least tapping your feet (for us older folks that don't do much banging of heads anymore).
"Pray for Death" is another of the better songs on the disc. It contains faster riffing in parts and has lots of great guitar leads. The anti-establishment (government, organized religion, technology) lyrics are well written if not overly insightful. In fact, I used an excerpt of these lyrics in my defense of metal music in my high school newspaper. It was the only article I ever wrote. You have to pick your battles carefully, right?
The video for the next track, "Set Me Free", was what inspired me to pick up Breaking the Silence. The video was nothing special, but the song is one of the best cover tunes I have ever heard. I have not heard the original track by SWEET, but HEATHEN's version fits right into their sound with its thrashy base and more melodic moments. Great stuff.
The title track is next and is another favorite of mine. This tune contains the best mix of crunch and melody on the disc. "World's End" has a mellow intro with vocals and acoustic guitar. The rest of the track consists of heavy riffing, but it is not as catchy or interesting as most of the songs on the disc. "Save the Skull" is pretty average and is my least favorite song on Breaking the Silence. The bonus track "Heathen" is okay, but I like the reconstructed version of the song on Victims of Deception much better. The "oh oh... oh oh..." vocal lines on this disc's version are quite annoying.
If you consider yourself a fan of the Bay Area crunch sound, you simply must own both of HEATHEN's discs. Enough said.
Contributed by John Frank
Back To Index
