>> BRUTALITY FOR A NEW ERA
HEATHEN
INTERVIEW WITH GUITARIST KRAGEN LUM BY TOM CRANDLEÂ
O
ver the course of their long career, Heathen have sometimes struggled with their timing. Hopefully, that will all change with the release of their fourth album, Empire Of The Blind. The 12-track effort was released on September 18 via Nuclear Blast Records.
benefit show for Chuck Billy, who was suffering from cancer at the time (Death Angel reformed for the same cause). They have been cranking out their signature brand of thrash ever since. Now, Heathen find themselves releasing Empire Of The Blind during a worldwide pandemic. Still, guitarist Kragen Lum thinks the timing is right.
to reach people at this time.� Heathen had to overcome some logistical issues to get Empire Of The Blind made. Their members are spread out across the country, in California, New York, Arkansas, and Florida. To further complicate things, founding guitarist and sole original member Lee Altus is also a full-time member of Exodus. “It was certainly a different process than previous records,� Lum explains. “We did several things to sort of help the process. One of them was to kind of go in groups. I was actually the only one present for all of the recording. It was good, though, because in a way, we got to do little bits of collaborative stuff. Lee came up with some great ideas for adding to the songs that really took them to a different level.� “This is the fourth Heathen album, so it's obviously going to be an evolution of the sound,� he says. “Each one of the records has been very different from the other ones, but I don't think that's a bad thing. This record, we're certainly taking some chances. We're doing things that the band has touched on before, but we're pushing them to the extreme. The fast stuff is faster. The melodic stuff is more melodic. The heavy stuff is heavier.�
Heathen formed in the Bay Area in 1984 and were a big part of the legendary thrash scene that also included bands like Death Angel, Exodus, Forbidden, and Testament. “Unfortunately, a lot of bands that recorded Lum has a logical explanation for why so and even finished their albums at the same Their debut album, Breaking The Silence, was many thrash records have aged so well. time as the Heathen record have decided a minor hit in 1987. Lineup changes delayed to hold them and are not releasing them," their follow-up, Victims Of Deception, until “They're authentic. You can listen to them he says. 1991. By then, grunge was sweeping the and know that they’re 100 percent behind nation and momentum was lost. what they're playing and singing about,â€? he “We'll see if that tactic works or if our tactic works,â€? Lum continues. “We wanted to re- says. “They had that depth that we tried to In 1993, after numerous setbacks and lease the record when people were stuck capture on the Heathen records. They've countless personnel changes, Heathen at home and needed entertainment. We got layers of extra parts and things that called it quits. They reunited in 2001 for make you feel something.â€? đ&#x;’Ł thought maybe that would be a good way the now-legendary Thrash of the Titans
VENOMOUS CONCEPT ous Concept are nothing if not honest with you, a policy to which their latest album, Politics Versus the Erection, released through Season of Mist earlier this year, is no exception. Wild, relentless, and aggrieved, the sound and views that pour out of the album are as poisonous to the status quo as an ounce of strychnine in a lime martini.
PHOTO BY MADOKA MOTOSHIMA EMBURY
INTERVIEW WITH SINGER KEVIN SHARP BY MICK R.
K
evin Sharp is working outside, building a deck with his construction company somewhere in Georgia. When asked what the weather is like where he is, his singular response says it all: “Inferno.�
“I must have hit my head this year, man,� Sharp continues. “Usually, I book a bunch of indoor work during the summer. It’s a million degrees by 4 p.m., and the sun just kills me. I work all the time. I built shit, or tour, or manage bands. I'm like everyone else, just scrambling to pay the bills.� Sharp’s band Venomous Concept is an old-school hardcore band in the vein of NOTA, SSD, and Poison Idea, the latter literally
14 NEW NOISE
UNDERRATED THRASH
BY TOM CRANDLEÂ
Even casual headbangers know about the “Big Four� of thrash: Anthrax, Megadeth, Metallica, and Slayer. More serious metalheads know all about the next four biggest thrash bands too: Death Angel, Exodus, Overkill, and Testament. But what about the legion of other bands that have been toiling away since the ’80s and never quite had that commercial breakthrough? Here are three underrated, classic thrash bands who have recently released new albums that deserve your attention.. Flotsam and Jetsam - The End of Chaos (2019) Flotsam and Jetsam formed in Phoenix, Arizona way back in 1981 and have been active for nearly 40 years. Unfortunately, they’re best known for being the band that Jason Newsted left to join Metallica (see also Kirk Hammett and Exodus). They deserve much better based on their own merit. In 2019, they released their 13th studio album. The End of Chaos finds the band continuing to pound out their razor-sharp Iron-Maidenmeets-Overkill magic. Psychosomatic - The Invisible Prison (2020) Psychosomatic are part of thrash’s second wave, having formed in Los Angeles in 1988. They’re also not afraid to break out of the traditional thrash mold by incorporating elements of punk and even death metal. Their seventh full length, The Invisible Prison, should elevate their status among metalheads. The cool thing about Psychosomatic is, they should appeal to old-school thrash fans as well the younger Municipal Waste/ Toxic Holocaust/speed metal punx crowd. Sacred Reich - Awakening (2019) Sacred Reich formed in 1985 and also call Phoenix, Arizona home. They ended 23 years of studio silence with the excellent Awakening and have spent a ton of time on the road promoting the album. Even 35 years into their career, they seem as inspired as ever. Sacred Reich are one of the more political thrash bands out there, and their lyrics are often as barbed as their riffs. Sacred Reich are for headbangers who enjoy intelligent debate as much as heaviness.
on a slab of ham. However, Sharp explains that the commentary made by the image doesn’t mean to be partisan, or supportive of other politicians. “It’s the devil and the ding-dong,� he says. “The two faces of a one-sided coin, overlapping. Red or blue clown shows. Take your pick.�
“I wrote a song years ago called ‘Kill All Poli- In times such as these, Sharp has a particuticians,’ and my opinions have not changed,â€? lar axe to grind with social media. Sharp states firmly when asked him about his political views, in the run up to this year’s “It trains people to hate each other,â€? he exclaims. “I think most people would agree presidential election. “Vote them all out! with this statement to one degree or another. They've proven themselves to just be brands For my part, I've certainly experienced my that sit on top of the respective parties. They inspiring their name. He is joined in the band fair share of vitriol online.â€? spend ten minutes out of their day thinking by Danny Herrera on drums, Dan Lilker on bass, John Cooke on guitar, and Shane Em- about policy and the rest of it marketing to Sharp points out that the conversations taktheir next campaign.â€? bury, also of Napalm Death, on guitar. Sharp’s ing place on social media platforms today former band, Brutal Truth are a household Regardless of whoever is in charge, the ma- are an order of magnitude worse than the name in the world of extreme music, as one of chinery of greed and graft that undergirds ‘scene feuds’ back in his day. the pioneering acts in the nascent grindcore the system doesn’t change, Sharp says. scene of the late ’80s and early ’90s. Pushing “[It] is pure fucking hatred,â€? he explains. “The music to its limits in terms of amelodicism, speed, and unvarnished truth, Brutal Truth “Look at the campaigning going on right now,â€? purest form of anger. It's weird.â€? Sharp says. “You're campaigning during cemented their place in the pantheon of On whether Americans have a right to be gruesome, god-eating heavy metal with their a pandemic and their idea of marketing is: ‘Well, the other guy is more evil than me!’ angry at someone and who they should genre-defining debut, Extreme Conditions direct their anger towards, Sharp makes his That's not really a good sales point.â€? Demand Extreme Responses. point clear. Venomous Concept were never meant to be The cover of Politics Versus the Erection shows Donald Trump’s face perversely melding “Save that for the rich people, the mega-bilas groundbreaking sonically, but do in fact lionaires,â€? he says. “Save that anger for with that of Alfred E. Neuman of Mad magmanage does pull its weight, both in terms of fucking Bezos. He's fucking earned it.â€?đ&#x;’Ł aggression and brutal honesty. And Venom- azine fame, like an apple pie that’s fallen
