UMUR "The Evolution of Chaos" is the 3rd full-length studio album by US, California based thrash metal act Heathen. The album was released through Mascot Records in January 2010. It´s the band´s first album in 19 years, as Heathen disbanded in 1993, after touring in support of their second full-length studio album "Victims of Deception" from 1991. Heathen reunited in 2001, and released the "Recovered" compilation in 2004 and recorded a demo in 2005. It would be five long years between the release of the demo and the release of "The Evolution of Chaos" though, which was probably in large part due to the fact that guitarist Lee Altus joined Exodus in 2005, and recorded and toured heavily with that band in those years.

Compared to the lineup who recorded "Victims of Deception (1991)" there are three members left: David White (vocals), Lee Altus (guitars), and Darren Minter (drums). New in the lineup are Jon Torres (bass) and Kragen Lum (guitars).

Stylistically Heathen pretty much continue where they left off in 1993. High quality melodic thrash metal with the occasional US power metal touch. Lead vocalist David White has a powerful and raw delivery, but is fully capable of singing softer more melodic lines too. He doesn´t have a particularly distinct sounding voice, so while he certainly brings the goods, his voice and singing style is pretty standard for the genre. The album features loads of hard edged thrash metal riffs, blistering melodic solos and harmonies, and a technically well playing powerful rhythm section. In other words, the musicianship is on a high level on all posts.

The material on the 11 track, 68:34 minutes long album are relatively varied, and not all are heavy fast-paced thrash metal tracks. The 11:10 minutes long "No Stone Unturned" is one of the standout tracks on the album, as it enters progressive metal territories with its many different sections and songwriting ideas (the song at times features a strong late 80s-Metallica influence). Another track which is quite different from the rest (and quite frankly gels with the rest of the material like oil gels with water) is "A Hero's Welcome" which has very little to do with thrash metal, and more to do with power metal. In fact it wouldn´t be completely out of place on a Blind Guardian album.

"The Evolution of Chaos" features a sharp, powerful, and detailed sounding production, which suits the material perfectly. So upon conclusion it´s a high quality release on all parameters. A slightly more unique sounding vocalist could probably have elevated the material to an even higher level, but "The Evolution of Chaos" is still overall a very strong release and a 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.

Kingcrimsonprog Heathen are one of the better of the underrated Bay Area Thrash Metal bands, from their melodic and catchy 1987 debut Breaking The Silence, to their dense and slightly progressive Victims Of Deception in 1991. After a long period of inactivity with only occasional appearances, they finally returned with 2010’s The Evolution Of Chaos (or 2009, if you lived in Japan).

Their guitarist Lee Altus has been making a name for himself in Exodus in recent years, and Exodus repay the favour with guest appearances on here by singer Rob Dukes and guitarist Gary Holt.

This album is very much modern Thrash done right; catchy melodies, memorable choruses, a good mixture of tempos but not forgetting to rock out and speed up, and utterly magnificent lead guitar work.

The production, from Juan Urteaga, is absolutely top drawer and equal to any of the modern Thrash releases by the likes of Andy Sneap. It sounds so clear and smooth, highlighting Heathen’s melodic aspirations really well.

In terms of direction, they do try and balance the style of both their more direct debut and their more ambitious sophomore effort, with steps into the future in the form of a whole new approach. The balance of those three key ideas has lead to a very fine record that fans of the band, and the genre at large need to check out.

If there was a slight criticism to be levelled at the album, it is quite long (68 and a half minutes!) but to be fair, there isn’t much in the way of filler either, so I guess we should just be grateful for having a lot of high quality material, even if it is hard to find the time to listen to it all in one sitting.

Here’s include the catchy “Arrows Of Agony,” the direct “Dying Season” and the varied “No Stone Left Unturned.”

Whereas some other heritage bands came back and their album was more of a step in the right direction (Forbidden) or a disappointment (Nuclear Assault), Heathen just nail it here. Well-written, well played and well produced. This set a standard for me against which comebacks can be judged (recently topped by Sacred Reich, but for the past decade, its definitely been one of the best).

Stephen Heathen had been under the radar for quite sometimes after their last release, "Victims of Deception" in 1991, and with the overwhelming return of many of the thrash titans, they decided to come back with "The Evolution of Chaos", a new release in exactly 19 years. Before the completion of this album, Heathen actually had released a three tracks demo recordings in 2005 as a sneak peek to this long-awaited record and was met with positive appraisals by fans. And five years after that, I can say that this album possibly surpassed any thrash fans expectation that the new album will be in lower quality compared to their previous albums.

Started with a middle-eastern flavor overture, "Dying Season" opened big with a horse stampeding rhythm, unleashing the violent riffs onslaught, but not until "Control By Chaos" came up next that I found my first fave track. Empowered with classic Bay Area riffage and killer solos, this is the typical ordinary track that any thrash fan will love. The peak of the album is definitely on the 11-minutes epic of "No Stone Unturned". From the chugging intro that reminiscent of Metallica's "Sad But True" style, Heathen formed a wonderful Verse and melodic chorus. If you're not even a thrash fan will probably like this one easily. You will hear a lot of tempo change and later evolved to an even faster piece with Altus/Kragen beautiful guitar harmonies. Some other notable great tracks that I like here are "Arrows of Agony", "Bloodkult", and "Red Tears of Disgrace".

The sound production is awesome, David White's vocal was handled very well, looks like he's in an even better shape right now, Lee Altus' ultimate guitar play is perhaps the highlight of this album, but the strength of their songwriting is also applauding. A well-round release by an underrated thrash act, this one clearly deserved a perfect five stars.

Bottomline : The Evolution To Perfection