Heathen - The Evolution of Chaos (2010) [Mascot] // Grade: B

So it started with the note, “Vaguely Middle Eastern intro track jam.  Guessing thrash maybe perhaps?  Possibly with some Maiden and Megadeth influence?”  It evolved almost instantly into one of the more enjoyable listening experiences I’ve had recently.   These guys fucking nailed it with the twin guitar-monies right off the bat.  Insta-retard grinning thrash.  Dave “Godfrey” White’s vocals are lot like what most of the Neo-Thrash bands try to aspire to, but fall too close to the generic side of things (see Gama Bomb).  Great fucking riffs.  Talk about a band bringing back the twinaxe assualt with a fucking vengeance, It’s like viking fucking warfare!

In general, I’d call it fairly standard but high quality Thrash. This is definitely a “modern” or “contemporary” thrash album in terms of production (high quality, crisp) and style (fast and technical but clean and progressive) by an old school Thrash band. It doesn’t have that same cartoony, over the top, recorded-by-teens feeling of a Muncipal Waste or a Black Tide but still fits nicely alongside those newer acts. Also, like pretty much all old school thrash, the album starts off strong and then peters off into monotony.  Not bad songs, just too many similar songs that are usually waaaaaaay too long.  In fact, there’s not a cut on this fucking album shorter than 4:30.

Overall I’d say it’s a super fun listen and you can definitely tell these guys have been playing together for a while. If you’re into the idea of Thin Lizzy and Metallica having a bastard ass-child then you’ll probably be into this album.  There’s a lot of worship of both all over the damn place on The Evolution of Chaos.  Now if only it was 20 minutes shorter.  Bring back the LP damnit…

- Jack Crank