Heathen - The Evolution of Chaos (2010)^{Release ID: 2978}

Up-tempo San Francisco Bay area style thrash metal (ala Exodus/Vio-lence) mixed with classic heavy metal (ala Iron Maiden/Yngwie Malmsteen). The vocalist sounds quite a bit like Bruce Dickinson at times. Plenty of Maiden-esque guitar harmonies & shredding neo-classical guitar solos. The riffs often remind me of Gary Holt & Rick Hunolt from Exodus. Great musicianship from all involved. Has a lot of energy. A lot of people will love this but there's far too many cheesy moments & not enough outright thrash metal for my liking. The ballad "A Hero's Welcome" is truly disgusting.